Being Known
by SKewedViEW
Summary: Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They weren't best friends, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out. Alternating POV's.
1. The Woods

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**Chapter 1: The Woods**

**"I have been up against competition all my life. I wouldn't know how to get along without it." ~Walt Disney**

A lot of people think that being a Wood is hard.

But the truth is being a Wood is so much more than that.

With a Quidditch Super-Star turned Minister of Magic father we live as normal lives as we can. Sure, if we don't play Quidditch by our third year at Hogwarts dad might die of a heart attack and Bri insists on keeping the house in tip-top shape for when dad has important people from other countries over unexpectedly, but aside from meeting a few important people, having box-tickets for every Quidditch match we attend, and playing my first Quidditch match at a year I've stayed relatively normal. Well, as normal as you can be with three older step-brothers, a younger half brother, and a cousin who lives with you during the summer hols.

Which, now that I think about it, really isn't all that normal.

"Come on Malia," West taunted, making yet another spinning move to get past me. "Get your head in the game."

"Oh yeah," I huffed, sprinting back to get in front of him before sticking out my foot to take the football away from him. I took one touch and kicked the ball as hard as I could towards the two trees that were my 'goal.' It soared straight through, about an inch off the ground.

"Woo-hoo!" I cheered, throwing my arms in the air. "Beat that sucker!"

"That's cheap," West said, running after the ball.

"Cheap?" I repeated incredulously. "That was freaking amazing! Admit it, I just creamed you!"

"One lucky shot doesn't make up for twelve fully skilled goals," West retorted, dribbling the ball back towards me. He faked right, touched it left, and hit it easily into the goal.

"Oh sorry," West teased. "I should have said thirteen. And people say that thirteen is unlucky."

Okay, so he was beating me 13-1. I'm not a football player, get over it.

"Oh please," I waved it off. "I'm just letting you get a head-start. You know, so that when I whip your butt at the end you don't feel too bad. I'm just conserving my energy."

"Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that," West laughed.

"Malia, West, it's time for dinner!" Bri called.

"Guess the games over," West said, scooping the ball up with his hands and bouncing it carelessly off of his knees as we walked.

"It's being delayed, it's not over," I replied. "It won't be over until we play a full match."

"What's a full match?" West asked.

"When I win, it'll be over," I said, stealing the ball with my hands; much easier than using your feet.

"Then we are going to be playing it for a very, very, very, very, very long time," West teased.

"No we're not," I scoffed. "This is like half-time. I let you win the first half and then I'm going to shut you out the second half. It's a simple strategy really."

"Oh no," Dexter said, hearing the last bit of our conversation as we walked into the kitchen. "Malia's talking about strategy while holding a football. Everyone hide."

"Ha, ha," I said sarcastically. "I will have you know that I shot my last goal from the opposite end of the field and it went straight through."

"Oh yeah? Was it your only goal too?" Dexter teased. I made a face but didn't reply.

"How many did West have?" Bri asked, trying and failing to sound innocent.

"Thirteen," West said proudly. Dexter started howling with laughter and Bri attempted to stifle her giggles by holding her right hand over her mouth. It didn't work but I targeted Dexter anyways, throwing the ball as hard as I could. Naturally, it hit its target.

"Ow," Dexter mumbled, rubbing his head where the ball had hit him before picking it up and chucking it back at me. I caught it with ease.

"She may be a klutz on the ground, but you can't deny she's got an arm," West grinned.

"And before furniture starts getting broken wash your hands and sit down," Bri cut in, holding her hands out for the ball that I reluctantly handed over. She held it as far from her face as she could, using one finger from each hand as she tossed it out the back door.

Brianna Clearwater is my step-mother. She has perfectly straight, thin brown hair that reaches a bit below her shoulders and dark almond eyes that would make Voldemort scared to lie to her. Her thin build makes her look like an easy target, a pushover even, but raising four boys has taught her how to deal with the best of them. She married my dad when I was little and she's really been my mum growing up, even if we aren't biologically related. I don't remember my own mum and my dad rarely talks about it.

"Are we waiting for dad?" West asked, taking a seat at the table.

"No, he's working late," Bri said with a sigh. "We aren't even hosting the Cup this year and yet he's still working crazy hours for it."

"That's because England's back baby!" Dexter said proudly, holding out his hand for me to high-five across the table. I laughed.

"And we're bringing it home," I said confidently, just as excited as he was. This was the best team England had put together since we won twenty years ago, the first World Cup dad played in.

My dad doesn't have a lot of rules. We come home when we say we will, we tell them before we go somewhere, we don't fail our classes, and we keep headline's to a minimum whenever it is in our power but aside from that, he and Bri run a pretty relaxed ship. The one rule that my dad has (unofficially of course) is that every one of us has to play Quidditch. Tommy captained the Gryffindor team as a beater in his sixth and seventh year, Luke played seeker for Ravenclaw second year through and now plays professionally for the Appleby Arrows, Dexter plays chaser and made captain for Ravenclaw at the beginning of the year, I'm a Chaser for Gryffindor, and West made everyone proud this year by making Hufflepuff's team as a Keeper in the fall. It's the glue that keeps us all together.

Once when I was eleven Luke and Tommy had a huge fight. And I mean huge. Tommy was 18 and Luke had just turned 17. Luke was dating this girl, Ellen Vanes, and he was completely gob smacked by her. I'm not going to lie, the girl was pretty, but I swear it was like Luke was under a love potion or something.

Anyways, she broke up with him and he was crushed. He asked her why and she said it was because she liked Tommy. Naturally, Luke was pissed and he punched Tommy. It's the only time I've ever seen him hit anyone; he's a pretty easy going guy most of the time.

They weren't talking when summer rolled around but my dad was oblivious to their fight and bought us all tickets to see a Scotland vs. Ireland game. My dad, having the Scottish routes he does, was routing for Scotland. Bri, being Irish, was pulling for the Irish. Naturally, we all had to take sides.

Dexter was the first to pick, siding with his mum because he thought the Scottish were dirty and said the Irish could actually string passes together. Luke picked Scotland, saying that he would sooner play for them than the Irish. I decided that it would only be fair to route for the Irish with my red hair and Tommy went with Scotland in an attempt to get back in Luke's good graces. Having Luke mad at you isn't fun. West, in all his almost-nine-year-old glory stayed neutral. He even had us paint half his face for Ireland the other half for Scotland.

The match began and as usual we were all obnoxiously loud, our jeers and applause blending in with the mixed crowd. The Quidditch World Cup was coming up the next summer so the game was important; all of the matches in the year leading up to it played a roll in the bets made.

As the match went on continued and became more intense the competition within our family became fiercer as well. By the time the match ended, with Scotland squeezing out a ten point win thanks to their seeker, our family was divided not by their fight but by the match. And according to the match, Luke and Tommy were on the same side. No one mentioned the girlfriend/punching incident again until they started joking about it three years later.

"England has to beat Bulgaria first," West now said logically. "That's going to be a tough game. And after that they're going to have either Portugal or India. India's seeker is dangerous but if Portugal gets a lucky win they won't have an issue."

"They can beat Bulgaria," I said confidently. "We're strong this year. We're going to the finals…I will admit that India could be a bit problematic though," I added begrudgingly. We have a decent seeker, but India's is amazing. Anyone playing India wants a long match and a lucky break at the end.

"Okay, okay," Bri cut in. "Enough Quidditch talk. I've had to listen to Oliver go on about stats and rosters and player protection and workout regiments the entire time you guys have been gone at school. Can we please enjoy one dinner without any Quidditch talk?"

Brianna likes Quidditch but she's not as fanatic about it as dad. Then again, no one's as crazy about it as dad unless you count Luke but at least Luke is quieter about it.

"Sorry mum," Dexter said, ducking his head. "But it's all anyone can talk about at the moment."

"Well not us," Brianna said decisively. "Now come on, we're all smart and well-informed people. We can come up with something other than Quidditch to talk about at dinner."

Underneath the table I kicked Dexter. He's the Ravenclaw; he should be able to think of something. Unfortunately, he decided to only show his well-informedness by choosing OWL's for his topic of general interest saying,

"Malia's going to fail all her OWL's."

"Thanks dipshit," I said, glaring at him. "That's exactly the confidence booster I was looking for. Really, all I need right now is people making me more nervous."

"I'm sure you'll be fine Malia," West said seriously. "You're smarter than you think you are."

"Thanks West," I said, refraining from rolling my eyes at his predictable comment. "Nice to know _someone_ believes in me."

"Yeah, too bad that someone is a Hufflepuff," Dexter said. It was West's turn to glare at him.

"I resent that," he said.

"See, isn't this nice?" Bri asked, sounding overly cheerful. The annoyed look in her dark eyes gave her true feelings away and we all lapsed into silence. A few minutes into our noiseless eating I went to kick Dexter again but missed and stubbed my toe on the table leg. I shouted out in pain and they all busted out laughing. Bri didn't even bother to berate me for using foul language.

"Only you Malia," Dexter laughed, patting my shoulder condescendingly. As soon as Bri looked down at her food I stuck my tongue out at him. Maturity is overrated.

**"Having someone wonder where you are when you don't come home at night is a very old human need." ~Margaret Mead**

My dad got home at ten that night. West had already gone up to bed, claiming that he didn't want to get off the school schedule over break. I didn't understand it in the least since I never went to bed before eleven thirty unless I was sick but I hadn't bothered pointing out that it was more of a grandfather schedule than a school schedule. Dexter and I started a game of Exploding Snap and were neck and neck when he arrived. Neither of us even bothered to look up when he came in but Dexter's attention was caught as soon as he mentioned that Russia, who was supposed to host the World Cup finals this summer, had been forced to back out and his cards exploded in his face.

"So who's going to host it?" Dexter asked, not even noticing that he had just lost the game.

"I think Ireland is going to step up," Dad replied. "It has to be someone who definitely won't win the cup and their team is in major trouble."

"Is that a rule?" I asked, putting all of the cards back in a stack. "That countries who make it to the finals can't host the Cup?"

"Not technically," Dad laughed. "But it's more of a courtesy thing. It's not fair for one of the teams to have home court advantage in the finals. If Ireland pulls a miracle win they'll be expected to step down and a team that's already out should step up. If they didn't there would be a lot of hate and a lot of pressure from the fans and non-fans so that no one can claim an advantage."

"It makes sense," Dexter nodded. "It would be considered a cheap win if they won so it really wouldn't do the country any favors and if they lost then their reputation would plummet."

"I think it would plummet either way," I said, dealing the cards out. "Cheap win or losing at your home court with the whole world watching. Both are reputation damaging."

"I never wanted to play big games at home," Dad said thoughtfully. "It was always too much pressure. The problem with last-minute changes is security. It takes months of preparation to set up. We're scrambling to get Ireland ready as is."

"Enough Quidditch talk!" Bri exclaimed. "At this rate I'm going to be sick of the World Cup before we even get to the World Cup!"

"Dad brought it up," Dexter and I mumbled at the same time. Bri sighed, running her hand over her face. Dad just laughed.

"Well I am going to bed," Bri announced and Dad quickly followed suit, wishing us good night on their way out.

"I bet they cast _silencio_," Dexter said a few minutes into our hand. I knew he was right. The house was completely silent and every time we put a new card on the table the sound was louder than it should have been but I still didn't appreciate the comment.

"Ew, can we just not talk about that please," I said, making a face.

"I'm just being realistic," Dexter said.

"No, you're being gross," I countered.

"What? It's not like—"

"New subject _now_," I said, noticing Dexter's smirk too late. He had been planning this.

"Fine," he said, sounding far too innocent to be innocent. It was the same voice he used when he got caught out after hours or when he tried to get me to eat the salt cookies he had made by telling me they were sugar cookies. I was seven. "What's up with you and James?"

"Another new subject," I said decidedly but he wasn't letting me off the hook.

"Come on," he groaned. "You can't date my best friend and then not tell me what happened when the two of you suddenly stop talking."

"Okay, first of all we were never dating and secondly we haven't stopped talking. It's not like we've ever been that great of friends. We work together when we need to prank the Slytherine's before a game and that's about it."

"That wasn't it earlier this year," Dexter pressed.

"Yes it was," I protested. "Besides, you said it yourself—he's one of your best friends, why don't you just ask him?"

"I can't ask him what's up with him and my sister!" Dexter exclaimed. "That'd be weird."

"No weirder than you asking me," I countered. "And you obviously don't believe me when I say that nothing's going on so maybe you'll believe him."

"Of course I would believe him, James can lie better than a house elf that's been ordered to lie. You, on the other hand, can't lie to save your life."

"I can lie," I said, offended.

"Sure you can," Dexter snorted.

"I can," I repeated, crossing my arms and ignoring the cards that blew up.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," Dexter said patronizingly. "Need I remind you about last summer's barbeque?"

"You suck," I muttered and he laughed.

"Seriously, today is the most you you've been since the two of you broke up," Dexter told me, sounding uncharacteristically serious as soon as he stopped laughing at me.

"We didn't break up," I told him. "You can't break up if you were never together."

"Okay, okay," Dexter gave in. "I can recognize a lost cause when I see one. I'm going up to bed."

"Fine, ditch me too," I agreed, taking Bri's vacant seat and opening the book I was in the middle of to the marked page.

"'Night," I called out as he left.

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts, favorite quotes, and any criticism is great. Just leave a review.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books/movies/video games.**_


	2. The Potters

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**Chapter 2: The Potters**

**Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown**

Being a Potter means being well-known.

My parent's sheltered my siblings and me from the press when we were young. We didn't go to Diagon Alley or any other particularly popular Wizarding area unless we had to or were visiting family and they always declined interviews and invitations to parties of people we didn't know on our behalf. We spent most of our time with each other or with our cousins. The first time I met someone who seemed to be really star-struck by my family was when I went to Hogwarts. My first year was pretty great because of that and I reveled in the attention. By the time my second year came I thought I was the shit.

Somewhere between my fourth and fifth year I mellowed out a bit. Sure, I still knew my dad was famous and I still got attention for it but having people fawn over me because of him started getting a bit old. I learned to take the attention in stride and stopped trying to invoke more of it. It was always nice when we got the whole family together because it was easy to just blend in with everyone. No one in my family cared who my dad had killed or what animals he had ridden or how he had broken into the ministry. My cousins didn't see him as anything other than Uncle Harry and all of my aunts and uncles had fought alongside him.

But the biggest misconception people have about me and my siblings is that we are some perfect, super-human family. We're not. And Lily likes to prove that as often as she can. She demonstrated the lack of our perfect harmony and unconditional love particularly well Easter morning when she decided that Al and I were sleeping in too long and doused each of us in ice-cold water to wake us up rather than acting like a mature thirteen-year-old and shaking us awake.

"What the bloody hell?" I spluttered, sitting straight up in bed. Lily smiled innocently back at me.

"Happy Easter," she said cheerfully, swinging the now empty bucket over her back and wandering back out into the hall and over to Albus' room next door to mine. I heard him spluttering and cursing at her as well and I grinned at the thought of him sopping wet. Unfortunately for him, he would have to manually dry off. I, on the other hand, could take my wand off of the bedside table and run it over myself and the bed, drying both instantly.

"We have to pay her back," Albus announced, appearing in my doorway just as I was pulling a jumper over my head.

"We will," I assured him. I looked around my room for a minute before locating my wand sticking out from under the mess of blankets on my bed. "We'll do it tonight."

"Do _what_ tonight?" Dad asked, materializing beside Albus.

"Albus' charms homework," I said immediately. "He's as rubbish at it as Malia is," I added without thinking.

"As Malia is, really," Dad teased. "You know how bad Malia is at it, do you?"

"Shut up, I had to help her with it at the beginning of the year or they wouldn't have let her play Quidditch," I defended myself.

"That's actually true," Albus said. "She was freaking out about it because she knew her dad would flip-shit if she got kicked off the team."

"Language," Mum commented lightly, walking past us and down the stairs. "Hurry up; I don't want to get an earful from Ron because mum won't let them eat until everyone has arrived."

"We weren't even late last time," Albus muttered, following her. "Uncle George and Aunt Angelina showed up after us, he's just too scared to take it out on Aunt Angie."

He was right. Aunt Angelina could be scarier than GG when she wanted to.

"Hey James, hold up a minute," Dad said, holding out his arm to stop me from leaving the room. Albus stopped in his tracks and looked back in concern but I nodded at him to go on. I hadn't done anything to get me in trouble. At least, I didn't think I had. Albus and I had even waited to test out the new soundless explosives Fred had been perfecting over the last few months until they were out of the house and since I could do magic, his room looked completely normal by the time they got back.

"What's up?" I asked. Dad ran rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and I knew immediately that mum had told him to talk to me. Either that or it was about something mum shouldn't overhear. Really, it could go either way.

"I was talking to Neville the other day," he started. "And he said that you still hadn't given him a definitive career choice."

"Yeah, well I'm not really sure what I want to do," I shrugged, not sure why it mattered.

"Right, but I just wanted to make sure you knew, well, I know you're taking all the classes required to be an Auror but you've never expressed much of an interest in it."

"I'm just keeping my options open," I said slowly.

"And that's fine," he said, still looking uncomfortable. Mum had definitely put him up to this. "I just want to make sure you know that you don't have to be an Auror. If you have a real interest and that's really what you want to do then that's great but I don't want you to pursue it because of pressure people are putting on you. It's easy for the Wizarding Community to assume that you and your siblings have to follow in your mother and my footsteps but you don't have to. I became an Auror because my whole life revolved around catching dark wizards since I was fifteen and I wanted to make sure that I could finish what I started by stopping any Lord Voldemort wannabe's from rising up. But that was my passion. It doesn't have to be yours. We clear?" he asked and I nodded.

"I got it," I said, actually feeling relieved. "Then I guess I can safely tell you I have no interest in following in your footsteps."

Dad smiled and said, "Your Grandmother will be particularly glad to hear you say that."

"Albus is interested in it though," I informed him as we walked downstairs.

"He has to get his Charms grade up then," he said, following me into the living room.

"That's what we're working on tonight," I said, recognizing the opening for me to reinforce my lie.

"It had better be the theory and not practical usage," Dad said, pretending to be stern. "You may be of age but your brother isn't."

"You know that would probably mean a lot more coming from someone who hadn't broken that law a million times himself," I laughed, taking a handful of floo powder and disappearing before he had a chance to retort.

"James is here!" Uncle Ron called out loudly from his place on the sofa. "We can eat now!"

"Stop being such a pig Ronald," Aunt Hermione scolded. "Harry hasn't arrived and Charlie's portkey doesn't come in for another half hour."

Uncle Ron groaned and let his head fall onto the back of the sofa as dad appeared in the grate I had just exited. Aunt Hermione turned back to mum and they continued their conversation as though there had been no interruption. Not really caring about Janis Grayson's (the new Holyhead Harpies keeper) legal issues that Aunt Hermione was trying to explain to my mum I left the warm living room and went out into the yard where most of the family seemed to have gathered.

Rose and Albus were already in the middle of a debate, each flapping their arms wildly in an attempt to get their point across. A few yards to their left Uncle Bill and Uncle George were laughing about something. Angelina was talking to Victorie and Lily at the picnic table that had bridal magazines spread out on the table. I searched for a moment before I spotted Teddy and Dominique, as far away as they could get from the wedding planning whilst still being outside. A tree hid them from Victorie's view when she looked up every few minutes in an attempt to get her groom and Maid of Honor involved. She really should have known she was screwed when she picked those two—Teddy hates anything that involves a suit and Dominique would rather spend her life in Azkaban than spend nine months planning for a wedding. She prefers spur of the moment decisions.

Trying not to draw attention to them I quickly flicked my gaze away and found the two people I had originally been looking for as well as the reason Dom and Teddy hadn't taken refuge inside the house—preferably in an old and moldy cellar that Victorie would never dare to look at for more than three seconds.

"Dom's dog?" I asked Freddy and Roxanne, taking a seat beside Roxie.

"Yep," she said, moving her hand in a strange gesture that caused him to roll over. She grinned and clapped her hands before picking him up and cuddling him like a three-year-old would do to her new stuffed bunny. "Isn't she adorable?"

"Uh, yeah she's cute," I mumbled awkwardly. Freddy and Roxie both rolled their eyes at me and Freddy took the dog out of her hands, trying to teach it new tricks. Dom glanced over every few seconds to check on her pride and joy but I knew she wouldn't come out of her hiding spot unless the dog was in real jeopardy.

"Freddy," Dom hissed, waving him over as discreetly as she could. Fred grinned.

"What was that?" he asked loudly. "Speak up, I can't hear you Dom!"

Victorie looked up from the table when she heard her allusive Maid of Honors name. Dom glared at him, knowing precisely what he was doing. Victorie was still searching for the source of Dom's name and Freddy took advantage of her eyes looking else where to rub his fingers together, indicating that Dom was going to have to pay up if she wanted him to stay quiet. Her glare got bitterer as she reached into her purple purse and pulled out a sickle. Freddy considered for a minute before shrugging and standing up, knowing it was a lot for something as simple as walking over to her.

Victorie saw him stand and snapped her eyes towards him. Expecting this, Freddy started walking towards the drinks first, picking up a butterbeer and stalling until her attention was caught by Lily again before walking around the large tree to see what Dominique and Teddy were in need of.

"So James," Roxanne said in a no-nonsense voice as soon as Freddy was out of earshot. "I've been meaning to ask you for a few months but what the hell happened with you and Malia?"

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently, trying to figure out what Malia had told her before saying anything myself.

"I mean what the hell happened. I've heard her side of the story, now I want to hear yours." She said it so simply that I almost believed her. _Almost._

"Malia didn't tell you anything," I laughed. Roxie is a good liar, but she isn't great and the annoyance in her voice gave it away. Still, she tried to hide it, keeping her eyes focused on the dog that was now sitting on her stomach.

"Of course she did," Roxie countered. "Malia tells me everything."

"Obviously not," I replied sardonically. "If she told you everything then you wouldn't be asking me." She glared at me and I sighed. "Look, just ask her. She's your friend."

"Yeah and if I ask her she would say to ask you because you're my cousin," she replied. "Merlin, you two are so alike it drives me mad."

"Rox, we are a lot of things but alike is definitely not one of them."

She looked at me incredulously. "You are either a complete moron, an oblivious idiot, or a brain-damaged dolt."

"You do realize you just used three synonyms to describe him, right?" Freddy asked, coming back into earshot just in time to hear her descriptions.

"What did Dom want?" I asked, seizing the opportunity to change the subject.

"Her dog back," he said, kneeling down and forcing the dog out of Roxie's hands by prying each of her fingers away. "It needs to be fed, given some water, and then brushed."

"All for the price of what?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't do it for free.

"Three sickles," he replied. "One for each of the tasks."

He walked away and I stood up to follow him but Roxie was quick to catch on and jumped up to.

"And just where do you think you are going?" she demanded, sounding just like her mother. She probably wouldn't appreciate that if I mentioned it.

"Inside, it's cold out here," I said, hoping that she would just let my lie go for once. It was cold out here, of course, that just wasn't why I was going inside. I've always preferred cold weather over warm weather.

"Did you guys break up?" she pressed, walking double the speed I was because her legs were so short. I groaned instead of answering. The girl was relentless. I seriously needed to find a replacement for my favorite cousin. If Fred did my homework for me I would give him the title despite his seat on the opposing Quidditch team. Huh, maybe I should give him the offer…

"Just drop it Roxie," I told her.

"Why?" she asked. "Why won't either of you talk about what happened? You've both been in a funk since whatever the heck happened between you two and I want to know what it was." She stomped her foot on the old porch to make her point and I was surprised when it didn't buckle under the force. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down; reminding myself that it was Roxie. She never means to be overbearing or forceful, she just is.

"We didn't break up," I told her and she raised her eyebrows skeptically. "We were never together so we couldn't break up," I said, forcing the words out. It was exactly what Malia had told me but they only made Roxy glare harder.

"Now we both know that is too big a lie for even you to pull off," she hissed, turning on her heel and promptly walking back down the steps, sitting down between Rose and Albus to show just how pissed she was at me. Normally we spent family gatherings making fun of them and their serious conversations. I knew that listening to them would only piss her off more but I was annoyed with her too so I didn't bother trying to diffuse the situation like I normally would.

Uncle Charlie's arrival was met with a huge round of applause. His original portkey arrived without him but just as GG was about to contact the ministry about her 'missing' son he sent a patronus saying that he had missed his portkey due to an unfortunate event whilst trying to take care of an incident with a Norwegian Ridgeback. When he finally arrived, an hour later than he was supposed to, Ron wasn't the only one complaining about his stomach.

"So James," Teddy said through a mouthful of food. "Vic wanted me to make sure you were still planning on being one of my groomsmen."

"Of course," I rolled my eyes. "You've asked me at least ten times since you got engaged."

"I know but I have to do something to make her think that I care about the wedding unless I want to get an earful about how I don't care about the wedding when we get home."

"You mean hiding behind a tree with her Maid of Honor doesn't qualify as caring about the wedding?" I asked innocently.

Teddy shrugged unabashed. "If I had it my way we would elope and get it over with. I'm sure as hell not going to help her plan the damn thing."

Freddy snorted beside me. "That's the attitude mate," he said, looking across the table at Teddy approvingly.

"Oh, good James," Louis said, looking relieved when he saw me and taking the open seat across from Fed and diagonal from me. "I've been looking for you all night. Derrick said that he wanted me to make sure I was ready for our match against Ravenclaw by being ready to dodge bludgers because he thinks they're going to ignore the rule that the Quaffle has to be in the scoring area only I have no idea how to watch out for bludgers and be ready for the Quaffle at the same time and I'm going to get an earful from Derrick if I don't have it perfected by the time we get back to Hogwarts. I would ask Dom except that she's under the impression that Freddy wouldn't purposefully aim at his cousin, especially if it was an illegal move."

"Louis I can assure you that Freddy has no trepidation about hitting a bludger at his cousins because I have been the target many times," I said, punching Freddy as hard as I could in the arm. "But it's probably not the wisest decision to talk about what our captain thinks Ravenclaw's strategy will be with a Ravenclaw sitting straight across from you." Louis looked over at Freddy and flushed, obviously not realizing that Freddy was there, or at least not putting the fact that Freddy, a _Ravenclaw_, was there and could easily report back to his team.

"Especially," I went on, "When that person is a beater. But you don't really need to worry about any illegal bludgers because it would be a stupid strategy to use since they need us to get as few points as possible since they're ahead of us right now and Derrick's an idiot if he thinks that they are going to risk the cup just to make sure that we get a little banged up. There's a reason they're considered the smart house instead of the blood-thirsty house. But if you want to practice avoiding bludgers I'll go over a few of the maneuvers with you when we have our big game tonight."

Louis nodded, having gotten over his embarrassment rather quickly, and joined in the conversation Lucy and Lily were having about Hogwarts. It was mostly one-sided what with Lily babbling on in her typical overconfident thirteen-year-old fashion but Lucy, who was due to start her first year in the fall, was listening eagerly. Louis attempted to add in his two Knuts but was met only by a withering glare from Lily who was in the middle of explaining, in great detail, the various ways you could get to the great hall from the charms hallway. It didn't take long for Louis to ditch our side of the table.

Unfortunately for him, he ditched right before Freddy, Teddy, and I switched to an interesting topic: the upcoming Quidditch World Cup which, as of yesterday, was officially being hosted by Ireland, who was expected to lose during the first round.

* * *

**A/N: Does James' POV work? What do you think of the Weasley's? Any favorite quotes? Leave it in a review!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowling's ideas/characters.**_


	3. Break's Over

******Summary:**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**Chapter 3: Breaks Over**

**Friends are God's apology for relations. ~Hugh Kingsmill**

**Malia Wood**

Easter Sunday always comes too soon in my opinion. I like to stay up late and sleep in late but on Easter Sunday that's never an option. Every year we have to visit my dad's mum. She lives in a home that takes care of her as her Alzheimer's gets progressively worse.

The one thing she never seems to forget is just how much she hates me. Seriously, she loves all of my brothers but she hates me and always calls me Lisa. I have no idea how she even came up with that name.

"Can't I just go see Mrs. Pearson?" I begged as we walked towards Nana Margaret's door. "At least she doesn't _hate_ me."

Dexter and my dad both sniggered.

"Malia, your grandmother doesn't hate you," Bri said, avoiding my question. "She can just be a little…_difficult_ and it's hard for her to express herself."

"Oh, I think she expresses herself just fine," Dexter was quick to argue. "Calling her Lisa and criticizing everything she does makes it pretty clear how she feels."

He was ignored aside from two glares.

"Okay, everyone be on your best behavior," Bri said as we reached the door. She put on a fake smile before turning the handle and walking inside.

"Margaret," she greeted my grandmother. "Look who we brought to see you today!"

Nana Margaret looks old but she doesn't act like she is. She's a few inches shorter than I am with a head of gray, wiry hair. Her face is covered in wrinkles, and not ones that occur from smiling all the time. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her smile in my life. Her robes, though expensive, were in style fifty years ago and haven't been worn in public for many decades. Today they were emerald green with little triangles that covered the top of her shriveled hands. Diamonds were placed strategically along the edges. She was sitting in a chair by the window when we entered and didn't bother turning around when Bri announced our presence.

"I know who you brought to see me, Brianna," she said haughtily. "It's the same people you bring me every year on Easter Sunday. And there's no reason for you to talk so loudly; I'm losing my memory, not my hearing."

It was a good day.

"Hello mother," dad stepped in, strolling over to the window and kissing her on the cheek.

"Have you come here to visit in this stuffy room or are you going to allow me out of this prison to get some decent food?" she asked. "Really it's the least you could do after forcing me into this place."

"We were planning on taking you out to DeLosa's for some Italian food, how does that sound?" Dad suggested.

"That sounds disgusting," she said. "I don't like Italian food; all those carbohydrates aren't good for women of my age."

After a bunch of suggestions being thrown out and dejected we finally landed on just going to the Leakey Cauldron. Dad had protested it, saying that it didn't seem like the right place to eat Easter Lunch but he was outnumbered by Dexter, West, Nana Margaret, and Bri who I suspected wanted to get this over with as much as I did even though she's never said it in so many words.

"Well Lisa," Nana Margaret said, looking me over as we waited for our food to arrive. "I see that you still haven't found a decent place to cut your hair."

"I like it long," I said casually, picking up my glass of water to take a sip.

"I think it's even stringier than your mother's," she spoke again. "And her hair was her worst feature. Just as bright red as yours. But at least she had the sense to keep it short enough that it was manageable."

"Please mother, let's not talk about that now," dad said and I could tell he was getting uncomfortable. He doesn't like talking about my mother.

"You look more like your mother than your father," she went on, ignoring dad. "It's too bad you never knew her. She would have brought you up to know how to be a girl instead of running around in the mud and playing _Quidditch_."

"I doubt she could have stopped me from playing Quidditch," I said simply. "Dad would have overrode any protest she could have had on the matter."

"_Overridden_," was her only response as she continued to observe me across the table.

"So Nana, how do you like the new facility?" West asked politely. She had switched facilities last summer and hadn't been too happy about it.

"It's an awful place," she announced scornfully. "And you know no one there has any family left at all so they had to be placed in there because there was no one to take care of them."

"Mrs. Pearson has family," I piped up just to annoy her. "She has two sons. One of them is in Egypt and the other one works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. He just had his third kid last November and it was his first girl."

"Well I don't like Mrs. Pearson," she said, shaking her head. "She's far too cheerful and insists on wearing these outfits that she picks out of a magazine that her older son's granddaughters bring her. Truly awful stuff, some of them are even _short-sleeved_."

"Oh the horror," Dexter whispered to me and I grinned.

"So Oliver tell me, what is going on in the Wizarding World that demands so much of your attention that you can't even take care of your own mother, hmm?"

I internally groaned and resigned myself to a few more hours with her. Dropping her off and saying goodbye really could not have come soon enough. After our lunch with her we went back to our house in order to make sure everything was in order for the dinner that night. We always hire a few house-elves to make the dinner and both Bri and my mum's family come over. Bri's younger sister, Penelope Stebbins, arrived first with her husband and their two daughters, Monique who was in my year and Hanna who was a year below me.

I like Penelope well enough but her husband is the worst. I have never met a more pompous git in the world. He's a few years older than her, less than an inch taller than her, and has started balding. Despite his unfortunate appearance, he thinks he's the world's greatest gift and likes to talk about why his job with the Sanitation department is the most important job in the world.

Personally I think it is the most boring job on the planet and my views are shared by everyone in my family, minus Penelope. He cornered West first but being the sadistic Hufflepuff that he is, West somehow managed to lure me into their conversation and then ditched less than a minute later, leaving me to fend for myself.

"If I hadn't been there people could have died," he was saying now. "But I was able to stop the spill and catch the culprits. They'll be on trial for it in just a few weeks and I will be called upon to testify against them. People might take what we do for granted but if it weren't for us they wouldn't be able to live the way they do. In fact, just last week I got a letter from a women in Scotland whose house I was able to rid of a particularly horrible fungus, thanking me for everything I did for her. It was very similar to the one that was let lose in the train station so she was lucky I could fit her into my schedule."

"I'm sorry," I cut in. "But I thought it was only dangerous if someone consumed it."

"Consuming it is the most dangerous way to confront it…" he admitted.

"Well then why would it be life-threatening if it was on the bathroom wall? I mean, I know I don't go around licking bathroom walls."

He turned slightly red and I excused myself, claiming that I had to go check on the house-elves to make sure everything was in order. Instead of going into the kitchen I went up to my bedroom and started working on my Charms essay that I had been writing a few sentences at a time. I wrote another few inches before I heard Brianna walking up the stairs, calling my name as she did. I froze, not realizing I had been gone long enough for her to notice my absence. I tried to get to my closet in order to hide but I wasn't fast enough.

"I don't know how long you've been up here," she said. "But there are people downstairs waiting to see you."

"I just wanted to…fix my hair," I lied, picking up the hairbrush on my desk and running it through my hair. She sighed and sat down on my bed.

"You know, I think I like it better up here," she finally announced, staring up at my ceiling. I laughed.

"It's better than pretending to be interested in dangerous funguses on bathroom walls," I agreed.

"Penelope always did know how to pick them," she said, shaking her head. "You know she used to date Percy Weasley?"

"The one who owns the joke shop with George?" I asked and she nodded sitting up and motioning me to join her on the bed.

"He wasn't always as amicable as he is now," she said, crossing her legs Indian style. "In fact, when she dated him he was a prefect and later became head boy."

"How did he manage to make fireworks and be head boy?" I asked.

"He didn't," she said. "When we went to school he was a total stick in the mud. He took points away if you were talking too loudly in the hallways and never let anyone off even if it was just a duel where people threw sparks at each other. He was always against the pranks that his brothers would play and sucked up to _all_ the teachers. It wasn't until after the war that he started to lighten up. Even now he can annoy me and he talks far too much but were you to ask him what he would be doing when he was sixteen he would have gone into a long speech about how he was going to work for the ministry and eventually become Minister of Magic. Saying that he would be taking care of the financial side of a _joke shop_ would have horrified him."

"So Aunt Penny always liked boring guys?" I asked and she nodded.

"We used to fight all the time over the guys she liked. She would show me pictures of the ugliest blokes and talk about how cute they were and I would have to put on a fake smile and lie about how good they looked."

"Rose has a weird taste in guys," I said, leaning back against a few pillows that were piled on the bottom of my bed. "I think she likes Scorpius Malfoy but she won't admit it. He's looks like one of those privileged pretty boys."

"Why won't she admit it?" Bri asked and I shrugged.

"Her parents don't like the Malfoy's and she and Scorpius are kind of awkward around each other. They're in the same house and they both made prefect but they've never really been friends. I think there's some family pressure against being friends with him."

"That must be hard," she said.

"Yeah, he and Al have a lot of problems which just makes it worse. He's her best friend and he would be pissed if they got together."

"Miss Wood's, Mr. Wood asked me to let you know that dinner is being served," a house-elf said timidly, apparating in the middle of my room and making me jump.

"Thank you Dipsy," Bri said, completely unfazed. "Let's go missy, we can't hide out in here forever."

Downstairs Bri's parents had arrived along with my mum's middle sister, Evelyn, and her parents. My mum was the youngest of three girls and they had been really close. Their oldest sister, Morgan, is always in some foreign country.

"There's my favorite niece," Evelyn's husband, Harvey, greeted me when Bri and I went downstairs to get something for dinner. I smiled and gave him a hug.

"Don't let Kylie here you say that," I teased him. "She wouldn't want to know she was replaced."

Harvey just shrugged and started piling his plate with food that was set up on the dining room table in a buffet style. After my plate was completely filled I followed him into the family room where everyone was sitting and talking. There were three different discussions going on. Dad was talking to Penelope and her daughters about Quidditch with Dexter and West piping in every few seconds while Bri and West were talking to my mum's parents and sister. Penelope's husband was had moved on to bore my mum's parents.

I sat down beside West and pretended to listen. When my dad talks about Quidditch he has no problem having a one-sided discussion so it's easy to nod and 'uh-huh' every few minutes without being called on your lack of attention.

"We're here!" Tommy called out loudly, walking in from the living room where our fireplace was.

Tommy's the oldest of all four of my brothers, 8 years older than me. His girlfriend of two years, Hannah Podmore, is very possibly the most gorgeous person I have ever met and I've met quite a few people. She's a model, stands at 5'10", has bright blue eyes, long and silky blonde hair, and a slim figure. The only imperfection anyone could possibly pick out would be the dark freckle on her left cheek but I like it as it proves that she is in fact a human being. She's three years younger than Tommy and they met when she did a photo-shoot for Witch Weekly inside one of the Azkaban cells when Tommy was on guard duty. They've been going out ever since.

Bri stood up and hugged both of them while the rest of us all called out our greetings.

"Is Luke coming?" I asked him when they returned with full plates.

"I don't think so," he sighed. "He said something about having an early practice in the morning."

Tommy looks exactly like Dexter except older and with fuzz on his face. He's a few inches taller than Dexter as well, standing at a little over six feet while Dexter is still at 5'10", but Dexter is still growing and everyone reckons that he'll catch-up by the time he stops. They both have the same sea-like blue green eyes, the same sandy colored hair, and bushy eyebrows. When you look at pictures of them at the same age it is impossible to tell the difference.

No one said anything for a few minutes and the silence felt awkward. Thankfully, West broke it by asking dad about how the Quidditch World Cup would be kept a secret with so many people filing into Ireland. After that, everyone engaged in discussions again and I listened as Aunt Evelyn and Hannah discussed how Muggle and Wizard style differed.

**What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy. ~Sun Tzu**

"We are going to be late," Dexter sang out as he, West, and I all sat down on the front step, waiting for Bri and my dad to be ready.

"Aren't kids supposed to make parents late, not the other way around?" West asked, peeling a piece of grass apart string by string.

"Apparently not in our family," Dexter said moodily. "If my birthday was a month earlier I would be able apparate."

"You haven't managed to apparate without splinching yourself yet. How do you expect to pass the test?" I asked.

"I haven't had to apparate without splinching myself yet. I just need a bit of pressure," Dexter shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" I mumbled.

"Are you guys ready?" Brianna asked, walking out and tapping the lock with her wand

"We've been ready," Dexter mumbled so only West and I could hear. I ignored him and stood up, pulling my trunk down the step and towards the car.

"Isn't dad coming?" West asked, still sitting on the step.

"Something with work came up," Bri said, pressing her lips tightly together. "He's going to apparate to the station.

"I would be able to too if I had been born in January," Dexter mumbled.

"Would you shut up about that already," I asked in annoyance. "It's all you've talked about all break. You were born in February, not January. Now move on."

Dexter's bad mood lasted the entirety of the drive and by the time we got to the station I was ready to strangle him with my bare hands. If we had gotten there five minutes before the train left, instead of three, I probably would have to. As it was, Bri turned off the car engine and the four of us practically sprinted to the barrier, not even bothering to make sure Muggles didn't see us disappear.

"Okay, be good, work hard, write us at least once a week, don't get called to the headmaster's office Dexter, do well on your Owl's Malia, and West…watch your siblings," Bri said quickly, kissing us each on the top of our head and shooing us towards the train that was whistling as she spoke.

Dad showed up just as Dexter and I were heaving West's trunk onto the train. He gave me a hug and ruffled the boys' hair as neither of them would hug him in public. Well, West probably would but dad's not big on showing his affection.

"I'm here, I'm here," Kylie, my cousin, exclaimed, hurrying towards us. She gave Bri and my dad hugs and took my hand to pull her onto the train less than a second before it started moving. We all turned towards the nearest window and waved as Dad and Bri started drifting further and further away.

"Whew, that was close," Kylie said, leaning against the side of the train.

"Too close," West agreed. We all looked at each other and then started to laugh.

Kylie Francis is my cousin. Her mum is my mum's older sister. She lives with us over the summer and spends most of her holidays at our house since her parents are constantly traveling. Her mum is a marine biologist and her dad does something that involves making a lot of money. Both of them are Muggles as my mother was a Muggleborne and while neither of them has a problem with Kylie being a witch, neither of them has really embraced it either.

"So how was your break?" I asked as we all started moving down the train.

"Alright," Kylie shrugged. "Mum was doing this study with dolphins so I got to swim with them which was pretty neat."

"That's cool," I said, not really paying attention. Dexter found his friends first and slipped away from our little pack to enter the compartment. Kylie found her Hufflepuff friends next and West went into the compartment with her, knowing at least most of them since they were in the same house.

I made it all the way to the end of the train without seeing anyone and groaned in annoyance, starting to make my way back to the other side of the train. I have a bad habit of always picking the wrong direction. Whenever I pick right, my friends are left. Whenever I pick left, my friends are right. It's quite a nuisance really.

In the end I didn't even make it back past West and Kylie's compartment before Gryffindor's seeker and my current captain, Derrick McPhee, got my attention through his compartment window.

"Malia," he said when I decided that his flailing arms weren't something I could pretend to miss. "Good, I need to talk to you."

"Shoot," I said, taking a seat opposite him.

"We only have one game left but I really want to try out a new Chaser formation. We're neck and neck with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw in the standings. Slytherin is out unless they slaughter Hufflepuff but I have a hard time seeing that happen. We need something the Ravenclaw's haven't seen us do."

"Shouldn't we discuss this when there aren't Ravenclaw's sitting in the same compartment?" I pointed out; doing my best not to make it obvious that I thought Derrick was an idiot. He's a good seeker but there are times when I wonder if he has a brain.

"Mo won't snitch," he said, referring to Bri's niece and one of the most annoying Ravenclaw's in my year.

"It's still probably better not to talk strategy against Ravenclaw with a Ravenclaw," I said, trying to be patient. "Look, why don't we get the whole team together and we can go over it on the train ride there. It'll take five minutes."

"Alright," Derrick agreed, picking up his stuff. "But we're going to have to find an empty compartment."

"Derrick you're a seventh year. Just tell some of the younger years to scram and they will."

"You get the sixth years, I'll get everyone else," Derrick said and I nodded, walking towards the compartment Dexter had disappeared into.

"Have you guys seen James, Eddie, and Zabini?" I asked, sticking my head in the compartment Dexter, Freddy, and Roxanne were sitting in.

"I think James and Eddie are sitting with their roommates," Dexter said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"And why do you need Jana? You hate her," Roxie added.

"I don't _hate_ her per se, I just…prefer to avoid her whenever possible," I defended myself.

"I haven't seen her," Freddy rolled his eyes. "But James and Eddie are a few compartments down and they'll probably know."

"Okay, thanks."

"Wait. Why do you need them?" Dexter asked, sounding suspicious.

"Derrick's calling a last-minute team meeting," I explained.

"Derrick thought of calling a team meeting on the train ride?" Dexter asked. It's no secret that Derrick isn't the shiniest broom in the cupboard. James and I have really been running the team for the last year while Derrick gives the long speeches and keeps everyone's morale up.

"Well he caught me while I was looking for Shaundra but he was trying to give me a detailed description of the new Chaser's formation he came up with while Mo was in the room so I convinced him that the best thing he could do is just call a meeting so that we can all hear it at once."

"So now your stuck with him the whole train ride," Roxie said, obviously not understanding my logic.

"It's better than Ravenclaw finding out whatever he's going to say," I pointed out.

"How do you know we won't spy now that you've told us what you're doing?" Dexter asked.

"A) You're too lazy and B) neither of you has the guts to cheat and Roxie wouldn't snitch on her own house team."

"A's a valid point," Freddy said thoughtfully and I closed the door before the conversation could continue any further.

I found Eddie and James two compartments over, sitting with their roommates and Roxie's four roommates, Jana included.

"Derrick's calling a meeting," I told them sticking my head in the door and avoiding eye contact with everyone who was on the team. They all groaned. "It's not my fault," I said defensively. Eddie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well it was either this or have the Ravenclaw's know his strategy for the game."

"He said it in front of Ravenclaw's?" James winced when I nodded, probably looking just as pained.

"Yeah, he didn't think Mo would snitch but she's evil and Dex has her wrapped around his finger."

"Who's Mo?" Jana asked.

"Briana's niece," James said immediately. I looked at him in surprise as did Jana and Eddie. He shrugged. "I do notice a few things," he muttered.

"Okay, well I don't know who Brianna is either," Jana said.

"Monique Stebbins is a Ravenclaw in my year and Dexter's cousin. Derrick doesn't think that she'd snitch but she would and the only way I could convince him not to give me a blow-by-blow was by telling him that it would make more sense to tell us all at once so stop complaining and move it."

"I think I'd rather the Ravenclaw's know the strategy," Eddie mumbled, standing up anyways.

"Not funny," James and I chorused.

* * *

**James**

**The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything. ~Mia Hamm**

Derrick McPhee's speeches are the worst. It would be all right if he knew what the hell he was talking about but he doesn't. He knows how to catch the snitch and he's a damn good seeker but he just doesn't understand all the other positions and therefore has no decent insight on strategy or how to prepare the rest of the team for matches.

He became captain last year and we all realized that we weren't going to win any matches if we listened to his advice and 'played around a bit' and practiced 'game situations' with each other for two hours. Ever since we got slaughtered by Slytherin in our first match last year Malia and I have run the practices and this year we were in the running for the cup along with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The only way Slytherin could win is if they beat Hufflepuff by at least 460 points, we score less than thirty and Ravenclaw doesn't score any. Basically, they're out.

"Okay," McPhee said, clearing his throat once we were all situated. I was in the middle of the bench between Eddie Finnegan and Jana Zabini. Directly across from me sat Jana's fellow beater Gareth McLaggan, a seventh year, with Malia and Louis (our keeper) on either side of him.

McPhee's speech began well and I started to get false hope that maybe he had finally learned something about Quidditch strategy over break: "As I told Louis before break we have to be ready for anything with Ravenclaw. Our game could and should decide who wins the cup." This was a very valid point but unfortunately he couldn't just leave it with those wise two sentences and had to go on.

"They're going to play dirty, do whatever they can to win so we'll be practicing a lot of penalties before the game." Wrong. Playing dirty would be stupid, they're worried about giving us too many points, and we have to beat them by thirty points if we want to win the cup so they'll be playing clean so that we don't get a chance to beat them by more than thirty.

"I came up with a new Chasing formation over break that I think can bring us to the next level. It's more defensive so that they have a harder time scoring."

"But we need to beat them by thirty," Jana said, stating the obvious. "If we play defensive the whole game it's no use, we can't rely on catching the snitch and we don't even know how many points Hufflepuff is going to get during their game so we may need to win by more than thirty points."

Derrick shook his head.

"We can't base our practices around what could happen in the other game and besides, I'm captain Zabini and I know what I'm doing. The pitch is booked for tomorrow night at seven and we'll run through it live. Now here we go. James I want you to be in the middle…"

Derrick went on to explain the new formation and I tried to listen without noticing all the flaws in his plan. It was impossible. We were going to have to figure out how to win without making it obvious that we were completely disregarding all of his plays. He was touchy about his captainship and while I didn't care about pissing him off I knew the rest of the team wouldn't be too keen on it. In Quidditch etiquette you listen to your captain, for better or for worse, especially in the last game of his captainship which, unfortunately for us, could decide whether or not we get the cup.

Everyone else in the compartment seemed as enthralled by his discussion as I was. Eddie was snoring on my shoulder, Jana had started filing her nails, Malia was staring out the window, and Gareth even had one of his textbooks open, probably studying for his N.E.W.T's. Louis alone seemed to be listening to what McPhee was saying but upon closer examination I realized that he hadn't blinked in over a minute and his eyes were glazed, only pretending to be taking in whatever crap McPhee was spewing out.

By the time we got to Hogsmeade I had recited the alphabet backwards five times, counted the number of tiles on the ceiling, and watched as Malia carefully chipped off all of the nail polish on each of her fingers and then cursed under her breath when she realized what she had done, mumbling something about having just painted them.

"See you tomorrow," Malia said as soon as the train stopped, jumping up and rushing out of the compartment. The rest of us quickly followed suit.

"Mate, we still haven't changed," Eddie said and I looked down at the Muggle clothes I was wearing. Without another word we hurried into our old compartment.

"Aw, I forgot I put my trunk up with Lily's," I groaned. "It's back in the Quidditch compartment."

"You get changed, I'll get us a carriage," Eddie offered and I nodded, retracing my steps back to the compartment.

I was just fastening the clasp on my cloak when Malia yanked the door open, still in her tattered jeans and black Holyhead Harpies t-shirt.

"You forget to?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah and we've got like two minutes before the train starts moving," she mumbled, standing on the bench and reaching her hand into her trunk, pulling out a pair of school robes moments later.

"Eddie's holding a carriage, we'll wait for you," I told her before stepping into the hall and closing the door so that she could get changed. She opened the compartment door and hurried out just as the train started moving.

"We're going to have to jump," I told her and she nodded mutely as I threw the door open, jumping out before it had a chance to gain too much speed. She jumped out right after, landing about a foot away but face planting instead of landing on her feet. I cursed under my breath and hurried towards her.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling her up.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, standing and dusting herself up. "The floor and I have become pretty good friends over the years."

She had a scratch on her cheek and I could tell her palms were stinging but I knew she would get pissed if I pushed the issue so we started towards the carriages in silence instead. Eddie's carriage was the only one left when we got to the loading zone and I climbed in just as the last carriage in sight was disappearing around the bend.

"Please tell me you have sweets," Eddie said, addressing Lia who had stepped out of the meeting moments after the trolley passed by, claiming that she had to use the loo. Lia grinned and reached into her bag, pulling out handfuls of candy from the trolley. McPhee was always lecturing us about what we ate so we had all learned that it was best not to have anything with sugar in front of him. Unfortunately that meant we all had to watch as the trolley rolled passed.

"Bless you," Eddie said in relief, stuffing two chocolate frogs into his mouth at the same time. "Hey I got both your dad's!" he exclaimed, holding them up to show us. We both rolled our eyes and he shrugged, stuffing them into his robe pockets before proceeding to lick his fingers.

"No Chocoballs?" he asked, surveying the pile in dismay.

"Nope, none at all," Lia lied quickly, speaking too fast in a voice that was too high.

"Liar," Eddie called her out immediately. "Where are they?"

"You're not getting any," she said, pulling her bag close to her chest defensively.

"Come on, they're my favorite!" he complained.

"Mine too. You should've gotten them for yourself if you wanted them," she retorted.

"But Derrick never lets us eat junk food, I couldn't risk him getting mad and going into a rant about taking care of our health."

"Well I took the risk and I'm not sharing the reward," she told him stubbornly and he sat back dejectedly.

"I love Chocoballs," he sulked. She looked from him to her bag and back again before sighing and pulling one out, holding it out to him. His face broke into a smile that I was worried would break his face and he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. She held one out to me too and I shook my head.

"Keep it," I waved it off. "I can live without them for two months."

She shrugged and ate it herself.

**Little kindness and courtesies are so important. In relationships, the little things are the big things. ~Stephen R. Covey**

My favorite time to be in school is the first few weeks after Easter break. I've had two weeks to sleep in and do nothing so I'm no longer fed up with the workload and the weather is so dismal that _no one_ wants to be outside. It's still pretty cold, being mid-april, but all of the snow has past meaning we're stuck with a muddy ground, a cold castle, and nothing better to do than homework. The only time I ever remember feeling overwhelmed right after Easter break was last year—O.W.L. year.

Looking around the Great Hall the first night back at Hogwarts it was easy to pick out the fifth year students. Albus and his roommates all had their books open and were unusually silent in the middle of the Gryffindor table. The Hufflepuff fifth years were the only people at their table that wore scowls on their faces. Even the Slytherin fifth years stood out as their trademark Greater-than-thou attitude and bored expressions had been abandoned in favor of panicked, constipated looks of concentration. It reminded me a bit of all us sixth years when we first started practicing non-verbal incantations.

Ravenclaw's alone blended in with the rest of their table. I found Rose relatively quickly thanks to her hair and watched as her eyes became tinier and tinier while she tried to remember an answer to one of the questions her friends had fired at her. In any other house they would have stood out as well but in Ravenclaw verbally quizzing each other during meals happens in all seven years.

"I so don't miss that," I said to Eddie, indicating Albus as we walked over to where Roxie was sitting with her boyfriend.

"Me neither," Eddie agreed ruefully. "And the best part is that even if I fail all my N.E.W.T's I can still get a job in Muggle Relations because I got an E on my Muggle Studies OWL."

"You want to work with Muggles?" Daniel Jordan asked, sounding as surprised as I was.

Eddie shrugged. "It's my back-up plan," he explained. "All they wanted was an OWL in Muggle studies and a good sense of fun so I already fit all their requirements."

"Shooting high, nice way to go," Roxie said sarcastically.

"What's your first plan?" I asked, ignoring Roxie's comment.

"Not really sure," he admitted. "I've been thinking about trying to go pro. I may not get a contract with the Arrows but the Tornadoes might be an option. Or I could work in retail, I'm a good salesperson."

"You suck at sales," Roxie chimed in again. "When Fred got you a job at the shop you talked a girl who was already at the register _out_ of buying half the loot she already had on the counter."

"That's because I was mad at you," Eddie shrugged. "I paid you back by making you lose a sale. I'm actually pretty good."

"Prove it," Roxie said, crossing her arms.

"Fine," Eddie agreed easily. "Give me something to sell and pick my culprit."

"Okay sell…" she looked around the table for a moment before pulling the blue flower out of her hair. "Sell this to Malia but keep her within earshot. I want to make sure you don't pull anything."

Eddie took Roxie's hairclip and tried to catch Malia's eye. She cocked an eyebrow when she saw him staring at her and he beckoned her over. She said something quickly to the fourth years she had been talking to and then stood up, walking towards us with Shaundra, Eddie's sister.

"What's up Finnegan?" she asked wearily, plopping down in the open seat beside him while Shaundra sat opposite her beside Danny.

"I have a proposition for you," he announced and then proceeded to clear his throat loudly while we all waited for him to start talking.

"Well?" Lia prompted when he didn't say anything.

"I'm trying to decide what to say," he explained. Lia and Shaundra exchanged an exasperated look and both stood up to leave.

"Wait," Eddie said, grabbing her forearm and pulling her back down. "I've got it. Okay…eh-hem…huh."

"You have five seconds to start talking or I'm leaving," Lia told him, her annoyance becoming more and more obvious.

"Okay, okay," Eddie said quickly. "Here's the thing. You see this clip here?"

"You mean the bright blue one you're shoving in my face? I do actually, _because I'm not blind._"

"Right," Eddie agreed. "This is why you can also tell that it is worth a lot of money."

"No it's not," Lia said, giving him a strange look. "Roxie bought it for two knuts in Diagon Alley over break."

"You tricked me," Eddie accused, pointing at Roxie.

"You said you could sell anything to anyone," she reminded him.

"This clip," Eddie said, turning back to Lia before she was able to leave. "Is worth far more than two knuts."

"How so?" Lia asked, probably just to humor him.

"Because of the great memories it has acquired. This clip has memories of things you can't even begin to imagine. It remembers being manufactured; it remembers being put in a boxed and being shipped to another place. It remembers sitting on a little stand in Diagon Alley and watching loads of people walking by. And finally it remembers you, walking up to the stand with Roxie. It remembers wanting you to pick it up and buy it and instead getting stuck with the irresponsible girl who is willing to sell it just to prove a point. But now this clip has a second chance. A second chance to live the life it wanted to live with you. Are you really going to deny this clip that second chance Malia Wood?"

Shaundra rolled her eyes at his ridiculous speech. Danny looked as lost as I felt and Roxie seemed smug, as though she knew he would never be able to do it. But Eddie was watching Malia, trying to read her completely unimpressed face to see what she was going to do.

"If I give you a Knut and take the barrette will you shut up?" she finally asked. Eddie nodded eagerly so she reached into her robe pocket and handed him a Knut, taking the barrette with her other hand.

"You can have it back for a Knut Roxie," she said, smiling innocently at her. Roxie glared. First at Malia, then at Eddie, and then back at Malia again. Finally she just huffed in annoyance.

"James can I have a Knut please?" she asked.

"I'm not getting involved in this," I told her. "You're the one who decided to sell her barrette."

"But I'm broke," she complained.

"I'll pay for it," Danny offered but I shook my head and reached into my pocket.

"Save it for her birthday," I told him. "Roxie's not a cheap date."

Roxie held out her hand expectantly but I ignored her and reached across Eddie to hand it to Malia who took it without meeting my eye and then tossed the barrette at Roxie, hitting her in the head. We all laughed and Roxie glared at her again.

"Why am I friends with you?" she asked.

Malia shrugged. "Beats me," she laughed. "But now if you'll excuse us we need to go and check on Berry Evergreen."

"We do?" Shaundra asked.

"Yes, we do," Malia told her pointedly, indicating down the table towards the entrance hall doors where Berry Evergreen, a scrawny third year with massive hair who stood at three feet, was sitting alone. "You tutored him for his final exam last year, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Shaundra said, standing up. "I was supposed to follow up to make sure he's doing well this year."

I knew they were lying, we all did, but none of us bothered to comment as they walked away and sat down beside the kid. As the meal progressed they moved closer and closer to the doors. By the time Professor V stood up to make his speech they were only three people away from the end. When Professor V came to the end of his speech they were the last two people at the table. By the time I stood up after we were all dismissed they were leaving the Great Hall and when I got up to the common room they were out of sight.

As I got changed that night I felt something inside my robe pocket and pulled it out, expecting to find an old snitch that I had nicked but instead pulling out a shiny blue ball with purple lettering declaring in all caps: **CHOCOBALL**. I grinned to myself and put it on my bedside table, knowing I would want it the next night after I had suffered through my first day of classes.

"Rise and shine cupcakes!" Jonas Jones woke our whole dormitory up the next morning. "Classes start in forty five minutes!"

Jonas is one of two Muggleborne's in our dormitory and drives me completely bonkers. He likes to wake up early in order to make sure that he 'starts the day off right.' The one good thing that comes from having him in our dormitory is that he wakes us up so that we never have to set an alarm. Still, it takes a little while to get used to his chirpiness after a break.

"Shut the fuck up!" Eddie grumbled. His statement was followed by a very loud grunt from Jonas. I have to hand it to the guy, he has to be tough to put up with all the abuse he gets hit with in the mornings and he hasn't slacked on his duties once in the six years we've been sharing a dormitory. He doesn't look like much; shorter than all of us, skinnier than Aunt Audrey was when she went on a juice diet, and he's a class A prat most of the time but he still managed to get us all up and down to breakfast ten minutes before classes started, giving us just enough time to grab a few muffins and allowed me to wake up enough to come to the realization that my day was going to suck.

My first class was a double-period of Transfiguration. Now sounded like a really good time to eat the Chocoball.

* * *

**A/N: I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed so far. It really means the world to me that you're taking the time to tell me what you think. As always I want to know your favorite quotes, any criticism or question, and your general thoughts on the story so far but most importantly:**

**Do you prefer a chapter for each of the POV's or do you like it in the same chapter?**

**And a few people have said they got confused on Malia's family so here's the rundown:**

**Tommy is eight years older than Malia and Luke is six years older. Both are out of Hogwarts. Dexter is a year ahead of her and in Ravenclaw, Malia is currently in her fifth year, and West is in his third year. Kylie is MALIA'S cousin (by blood) and Monique and Hanna are both the boys' blood cousins. Hope this helps and be sure to leave a review!**


	4. Quidditch

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**Chapter 4: Quidditch**

**Malia Wood**

**Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than to hurt yourself putting them back together again. ~Unknown**

Quidditch practice couldn't have come fast enough for me. The first day back at Hogwarts, to put it simply, sucked. The night before had been fine. Shaundra and I went through the same routine we do every time we come back to school: get out of the hall before the rush of people, get to the common room before any other Gryffindors, and make it into the sanctuary of our dormitory before anyone has a chance to even attempt to talk to us.

We spend the evening unpacking, eating junk food we saved from the train, and talking. She tells me about the crazy Muggle TV shows she's obsessed with and I fill her in on life inside the Insane Asylum also known as my house. We get ready for bed early, turn the lights out at nine thirty, and wake up early so that we have plenty of time to get ready for classes. Since we're the only two fifth year Gryffindors we don't have to worry about any noisy dorm mates messing up our system.

The day started off perfectly fine. We woke up at seven and got ready before heading down the Great Hall where a wonderful breakfast was already displayed across the tables courtesy of the house-elves. I was just draining the last of my pumpkin juice when I realized what starting the term on a Tuesday first day back meant: double charms first period.

I love my Charms class because we have it with Ravenclaw and I love professor Dabney. I just suck at Charms. I can heal bones, turn mice into teacups, and make a decent Murtlap Essence but when it comes to color changing spells and tickling charms I just can't figure it out. The color changing charm has resulted in a few explosions and a whole lot of nothing happened for the first three weeks after we learned the tickling charm no matter how much I practiced. I just don't have the patience to sit there and make people laugh for an hour that would be much better served at Quidditch practice.

"Are you coming to dinner?" Shaundra asked a few minutes before dinner, walking down from our dormitory to find me sitting on the common room couches, repainting my nails since I had peeled it all off the day before.

"No, I have Quidditch practice," I reminded her. "I'll probably just stop by the kitchens afterwards."

"Will do," she agreed brightly, heading down to the Great Hall.

I looked over at the books I had been neglecting all night. I promised myself I would take advantage of our lack of homework and study but I hadn't exactly done that yet. It's so much easier to think of doing something than it is to actually do it. Either way I knew I was going to be late if I waited any longer so I waved my hands as I followed Shaundra out of the portrait whole and headed out to the pitch. James, Eddie, and Zabini were already there and I ignored them as I changed into my robes and took a seat on the far end of the bench.

"Let's practice the new Chaser formation," Derrick instructed as soon as he arrived. I internally groaned but stayed silent as we all followed him out onto the pitch. I could tell James and Eddie were getting annoyed but Quidditch Etiquette is Quidditch Etiquette so they were just going to have to deal. Even if it meant we were going to lose the cup. To my brother most likely. Merlin, I hate Derrick sometimes.

When he said that he wanted us to play defensive he meant it even more than I had realized. Instead of letting James and I run the practice while he searched for the snitch he hovered nearby us all and called out instructions. He didn't have us work with the beaters, instead having the beaters and himself pose as chasers to show us where he wanted us to be when.

"Derrick, mate," James finally stepped in half an hour later. "I get that you want to make sure Ravenclaw doesn't score a lot but don't you think that we should at least try a few attacks. You know, just in case?"

"I'll catch the snitch," Derrick said stiffly. "You lot just have to stop them from scoring more than 120 points."

I sighed and we all got back to work. Unfortunately, the practice just got sloppier as time went on. An hour in he let out a bludger and allowed us to try a few plays but got mad as soon as we started trying anything fancy.

"We don't need you injured before the game," he said when I spiraled to avoid a bludger.

"I would have gotten hurt if I stayed where I was," I pointed out as patiently as I could. "A bludger was heading straight towards me."

"Well then you should have dropped the Quaffle so that you could grip your broom properly," Derrick said. "We need you on defense."

I sighed but nodded and got back in formation.

"Wait," Derrick called only a minute later. "Didn't I say I wanted James in the center?"

"Malia's always in the center," Eddie said, frowning at him.

"We'll switch when we're running the defense plays," James said, trying to appease him.

"No, no," Derrick shook his head. "We need to be able to switch quickly. I want James in the middle all of the time so that it's easy to switch as soon as you lose the Quaffle. And Eddie, you should take James' old side."

"But James is left handed," Eddie tried to reason with him. "We need him on the left."

"I'm captain Finnegan," Derrick snapped. "Now get into formation!"

I closed my eyes for a second and waited patiently as Eddie moved to James' old position and James took mine. James' mouth was in a tight line and Eddie's face was scarlet.

The rest of the practice was absolutely dismal. Derrick started getting mad at Zabini and Gareth because they were hitting bludgers at us (as they well should be). James, Eddie, and I were dropping the Quaffle every five minutes and messing up every play because we weren't able to reverse our usual plays and some of them didn't work as they had become personalized to each of our strengths over the years. Poor Louis had it the worst. After berating Jana and Gareth, Derrick ordered them to start aiming all the bludgers at Louis who was becoming more and more frazzled by the second. By the time practice was done, the rest of my day looked pretty good.

"How was practice?" Shaundra asked when I got back.

"Derrick is on a rampage," I told her with a sigh. "I don't know what's going on with him but all the sudden he's decided he's an amazing captain and he's trying to take charge of everything except he has no idea what he's doing. I don't know what's going on with him but there's no way we're beating Ravenclaw if he doesn't chill out and let us do our thing. We've won every game this season because we're good. Why should we fix what isn't broken?"

"It's probably hard for him," Shaundra said reasonably, writing something on a note card.

"What's hard for him?" I asked, slipping into my pajamas.

"Well being a seeker, a captain, and a seventh year," she shrugged.

"Why would that be hard?"

"Well think about it," she said slowly. "He's alone all the time. Being a seeker he's not really involved in the rest of the game, you know? He practices on his own and he's trying to lead a team. On top of that it's his last year so he wants to win."

"But we _are_ winning," I said in frustration.

"I know that," Shaundra nodded. "But remember your game against Hufflepuff? You guys were creaming them and our stands were ecstatic because we knew that if he caught the snitch that would be it, we would have the cup with a tiny footrace against Ravenclaw. Then Molly Weasley came out of nowhere, took it from right under his nose. You guys won but Hufflepuff is still in it because Derrick didn't catch the snitch. If he had caught it, all we would have had to do was beat Ravenclaw."

"So now he feels guilty and his confidence is being second-guessed in his head," I finished for her, biting my lip. "I didn't even think of that, I was just happy we had won. He wasn't at the celebration, was he?"

"I don't know," she said. "But I would be surprised if it's not messing with his head."

"If it was me I would be replaying it in my head all break," I admitted. "He's going to drive himself completely mad if he's not careful."

"And it's his last year," she added. "He wants to win a cup as captain."

"That probably added to it all," I said, thinking out loud. She looked at me questioningly so I continued to explain.

"He feels like a crappy captain," I said. "He hasn't been running the rest of the team, James and I have been doing most of it. He's kind of been there for show. He shakes their hand and books the pitch and what not but on the pitch he doesn't lead much. We won the match, sure, but his biggest contribution is catching the snitch.

"As a captain he would normally feel satisfied that he had trained us well enough to still win but he doesn't because he didn't create our formation or come up with any plays that we were using. He kept going on about how we just needed to play defensive and he would catch the snitch. He's trying to make up for it, go out on a win, and feel like he actually led the team _and_ did his job."

"Yeah, I can only go so far as to figure out what he's feeling," Shaundra laughed. "Quidditch insight is a bit beyond me. You studied for your O.W.L's since we got back?"

I smiled guiltily and she started reading off the cards she was making to quiz me on Transfiguration.

I had just taken out my charms books and was getting into it when my stomached growled and I looked down in surprise. Shaundra laughed.

"Did you have dinner?" she asked.

"I wasn't exactly in the mood," I admitted sheepishly. "Want to go down with me? We can study while I eat."

"Sure," she said, climbing out of her bed. "If we make it down there in five minutes we'll just have to get back without anyone seeing."

"Where are you going?" Lisa Holden (Gryffindor's sixth year prefect) called out. "Curfew starts in five."

"We're just running out for a sec," I told her.

"I'm a prefect," Shaundra added. "I'm not going to be out after hours."

Those who heard her laughed, knowing the she is the last prefect in the world who would care about that. She always said that the only reason she got made prefect was because they had to pick between two dragon eggs and hers was smaller since I had a bigger record thanks to Quidditch pranks.

We were both dressed in pajamas but no one bothered to comment on that either. It's rather common for us to hang out in them as soon as we were in for the night. They're much more comfortable than robes. Hers were white with pink, blue, and green ribbon and she had on a light pink tank-top. Mine were blue with different types of ice-creams on them and an old t-shirt with HOT MESS across the front. It was the slogan for a Coffee Shop Kylie and I were obsessed with by our grandparents house.

We got a few disgusted looks as we passed girls hurrying back to their common rooms but we ignored them. They were just jealous. You know, of my pajama shirt and Shaundra's bun that was half-falling out.

"What's the difference between an Animagus and one who is well-versed in Human Transfiguration?" Shaundra asked, reading off one of the note cards she had been making earlier.

"An Animagus has to register with the ministry, they can only change into one animal while someone using Human Transfiguration could change into any animal, and an Animagus keeps their own brain and therefore has human instincts while someone who uses Human Transfiguration takes on the intelligence level of the animal because they are the animal until they get un-transfigured."

"Right," Shaundra agreed, tickling the pear as we reached the portrait. "And Human Transfiguration can cause a person to be stuck that way if the animal they get turned into has a lower intelligence and no one is there to transfigure them back."

"That's kind of creepy," I commented as we stepped inside. "I mean if someone transfigured you and no one else knew then you would just be an animal for the rest of your life and you might not even know that you used to be human."

"Don't get on anyone's bad side if they're good at Transfiguration," Shaundra decided.

I ordered dinner from the house-elves and she got a piece of chocolate cake. Pretty soon we fell into a comfortable silence as we started reviewing our worst subjects—charms for me, transfiguration for her. It was only a few minutes of silence before we got interrupted by James and Eddie, both materializing out of seemingly thin air.

"Where do you two come from?" Shaundra asked, jumping in surprise. I looked over just in time to see James shoving something into his robes.

"We came through the portrait," Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

"But you weren't there two seconds ago," she insisted and then turned to me. "Did you see that? They just, like, appeared."

James looked at me, seeming slightly panicked. I just shrugged.

"They were both there when I looked," I told her. She looked from me to them and then back again before shrugging.

"I have been studying for way too long," she decided and we both went back to our notes as they took seats—relieved that she bought my lie. I would like to attribute it to my lying skills improving but truthfully it was probably due to the fact that she had been studying for hours before I arrived.

Eddie and James both ordered dinner and sat down. I ignored them as best I could but after re-reading the same sentence three times I gave up and finished my dinner without trying to multi-task.

I couldn't deny it was awkward between James and me. I tried to make it as normal as I could but the truth is Dexter was right when he said that things had changed earlier in the year. We really weren't together. We had never gone on a date, I had kissed him twice, and then it was done. Unfortunately, things had already started to change before it was done.

Before I was only at Quidditch practice to play Quidditch and the only time I talked to anyone else on the team was when we all went for dinner after a late practice, we were pranking the team our next match was against, or we had to initiate new players onto the team. I talked to them about Quidditch and we got along just fine. Heck, James, Eddie, and created one of the best chasing trios in a while and I'm not being cocky; we just work well together. We've had three years to play together and we know how to get along. On the pitch.

Until this year I never really talked to them off the pitch. Obviously I saw Eddie around all the time during breaks because Shaundra and I usually hung out—especially over the summer hols—but most of the time he was either gone or he, Shaundra, Dexter, and I were all hanging out as a foursome. He and Shaundra had never been all that close. James I only saw off the pitch when he was hanging out with Dexter or if we were in the common room at the same time and even then our conversations never went past mandatory pleasantries. I didn't mean for it to change, it just had. And now I had a much harder time ignoring him when he was in the same room.

"I'm going to go back to the dormitory," I told Shaundra, sliding my plate towards the house-elves so that they could clean it. "I'm wiped."

"I'll come with you," she muttered, still pre-occupied with her note cards that she seemed to have made for every subject. "Crap, I forgot to write the answer," she muttered to herself, nearly tripping over her own feet as we left the kitchen.

"What are the characteristics that identify a werewolf?" she asked me.

"Huh?" I said.

"Characteristics that identify a werewolf," she repeated.

"Oh…uh, the snout, the pupils, the tufted tail, and…I don't know the others. There are five, right?" Shaundra shrugged and put the card in her robe pocket so she could look up the answer. I knew I should study but it really was a bit of a pain.

Still, when we got back to our dorm I took out my notes for Herbology from my first three years and started organizing them all. I knew if I didn't take advantage of our lack of homework now I would sorely regret it when they started piling it on.

* * *

**James**

**Every Chaser can throw a ball; every Beater can break bones; every Seeker is fast; but that mental toughness that you talk about translates into competitiveness. ~Tom Brady (with alterations made to fit the Wizarding World by me).**

The Hufflepuff/Slytherin Quidditch game came a few weeks before we were due to play Ravenclaw. The nice thing about being in Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw for that matter, is that our fate is always in our own hands. If Hufflepuff were to slaughter Slytherin we would still have a chance to come back, no matter how behind we were. Hufflepuff and Slytherin, on the other hand, are forced to sit and watch as they wait to see if either of the other two houses are able to catch them.

Since Derrick has doesn't understand the strategy that should go into running a team, he doesn't care what we do during the matches that we aren't playing in. Still, I grabbed Louis at breakfast and forced him to sit with Eddie and I. Jana followed suit as usual and Malia joined us with Shaundra a few minutes later.

"Hello brother of mine," Shaundra grinned, greeting her brother in an unusually good mood. She's normally more of the quiet, brooding type and rarely shows any emotion.

Eddie raised his eyebrows but ignored her and turned his attention to the pitch as Daniel Jordan started introducing the Slytherin's. As usual half of the Gryffindor's booed and the other half remained dead silent. Normally I would have joined in with the jeers but Professor Dierks already had his eye on me so I remained silent as those around me did the dirty work. When Hufflepuff was announced Malia stood up with the majority of our house to cheer them on. Even though they were more of a threat in terms of the House Cup, no one wanted the snakes to win.

"Yeah West," Malia and Shaundra cheered the third year on.

"The snitch is out, the bludgers are released, the Quaffle is thrown and the game begins!" Daniel announced. "It's caught by Aria Chang right away and she speeds down the pitch, dodging McLaggan Junior, swerving to avoid the bludger sent at her by Mark Zabini and she passes the ball to Cadwallader. Cadwallader passes it straight to Summerby who reverse passes back to Chang who shoots and—no! Blocked by Slytherin Keeper Eleanor Flint. Flint passes the ball out to McLaggan Junior and Slytherin starts their attack."

Daniel's commentation continued and we all watched the game that was much closer than anyone had expected. Hufflepuff had been playing well this year, coming close to beating us in our second game of the season, but they seemed to fall apart as the Slytherin's had a go at them. Slytherin plays dirty—plain and simple. Hufflepuff plays by the rules no matter how badly they get treated. The difference between us and Hufflepuff is that we fight back against Slytherin. Hufflepuff has faith that they will win because they play fair, Ravenclaw comes up with a bunch of fancy plays to try to avoid injury, and we just whack them back as hard as we can.

I watched as my cousin, Molly, searched frantically for the snitch, trying to end the game before any major injuries occurred but neither she nor Slytherin's seeker, Carlos Belby, were able to see it. After watching a few more Hufflepuff bones crack I joined their search for the snitch, wanting the misery to end no matter who won.

"And Weasley is diving!" Jordan exclaimed into the microphone. "Belby is hot on her heels, coming diagonally on the other side. Ooh, that's gotta hurt! McLaggan takes advantage of the race to hit Wood—come on Molly! You've got this! Just stretch a little, that's—NO! Belby gets to the snitch first and Slytherin wins, 240 to 110. Tough luck mates though this means that the cup should go to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor as they both only need to score in the one hundreds."

"I think Flint's a shoe in for captain next year," Eddie said as made our way out of the stands, torn between relief at only needing to beat Ravenclaw and disappointment that Slytherin had managed to win one of their games this season.

"I think you're right," I sighed. "With Bradley graduating she's the only logical choice. Zabini isn't reliable enough and the others are too young."

"Practice tomorrow night at seven," Derrick told us as we walked past him. I groaned as soon as he was out of earshot.

"He's going to lose us the cup," I told Eddie.

"I know mate," he sighed. "But we can't go against him. If he decided to try and act like the shit last year we could've just ignored him but it's his last year. There's no way we're going to get the rest of the team on board."

"You mean Lia," I stated and he reluctantly nodded in admittance.

"You know what she's like with Quidditch etiquette. She won't go against him even if it means we get hammered. She'll play with all she's got but she won't rebel."

"The rest of the team would," I muttered.

"The rest of the team didn't start learning the rules and regulations the first day they were born." He pointed it out simply but looked at me as though he was waiting for me to argue. Unfortunately, I couldn't. Lia might be easy-going with most things but she would stick to her wand when it comes to Quidditch.

"Tough luck mate," Eddie called out to Chang. She just shrugged back. I was pretty sure Chang would get Captain too.

**Assumptions are the termites of relationships. ~Henry Winkler**

I may not have grown up learning the stats to every professional Quidditch team but I did follow it. Between my mum's connections with the Holyhead Harpies and my dad's connections everywhere else we rarely had trouble getting tickets and the seats ranged between great and stellar. Still, I knew the Quidditch World Cup would be different and after the _Prophet_ announced that the location for the final match had been switched, everyone freaked.

Ireland and Russia have completely different stadiums so everybody lost their seats. They had tried to figure out who should go where in the bigger stadium but it was near impossible. Russia's stadium went more straight up, Irelands went out further. Russia's stadium, therefore, was better for the people with not-so-good seats while Irelands was better for people with prime seats and people who hadn't originally been able to get tickets at all. When the _Prophet_ announced that all ticket's had been lost and all money was going to be refunded everyone started freaking out. Sales would be re-opened it two weeks for the new host but people who had stayed up for 72 hours to ensure that they got a seat _somewhere_ were about to be forced to try yet again. And people who had missed out before got another shot.

"Can you guy believe this?" Eddie seethed, slamming the paper down in front of me.

"Yeah, that sucks," I shrugged.

"Sucks?" he repeated. "No, this does not suck, this is a freaking travesty!"

"Eddie chill out," Shaundra said, taking a seat beside me. "It's just a Quidditch game."

"It is not just a Quidditch game," he glared at her. "It is the first Quidditch World Cup Final that England actually has a shot at being in."

"I thought they already qualified for the tournament," she frowned.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"Well if they qualified won't they at least play one game that's not there?" she asked. I snorted into my drink.

"I will never understand how we are related," he told her. "What are you doing here, anyways? Shouldn't you be stressing over your OWL's with Malia or something?"

"Since when does Malia stress over schoolwork?" Shaundra rolled her eyes and started piling food on her plate. "I've had to force her to pick up her books. She keeps saying there's no point because she won't be able to remember everything from the past five years for all of the subjects we're taking."

"I tried that one," Roxanne piped up. "Neither Freddy nor mum agreed with me. Dad said that was his strategy too although mum still says that she saw him with his books open even though he tried to do it without anyone seeing. Hey, where is Malia?"

"I think she went down to the pitch," Shaundra answered. "Ravenclaw's having practice and she's been trying to corner Dexter for ages."

"Didn't he get the teachers to sign something that banned her from the pitch during their practices?" I asked.

"Yeah, she'll have to wait outside the pitch." Shaundra laughed at the thought, probably remembering the huge fight that had broken out between Lia and Dexter at the beginning of the year.

Our own practice the next night sucked just as badly as the ones preceding it had and when the match finally rolled around we were anything but prepared no matter what Derrick said or how unusually optimistic Malia was being about it.

"Hey Derrick," Malia had said at our last practice before the match. He had looked over at her wearily, as though waiting for her to try to convince him to let us play the way we usually did as the rest of us had been doing. But she surprised all of us.

"Nice call on the Hufflepuff/Slytherin match," she said instead. "We all thought that Hufflepuff was bound to win but you were right when you said we couldn't base our strategy on what might happen in that match. We only need to get over one hundred now in order to get ahead of them. You were right."

Eddie and I shared incredulous looks.

"Thanks." Derrick looked just as surprised as we all were but composed himself quickly. "We've got a good shot at the cup as long as I catch the snitch."

"Yep," Malia said happily. "But you've got it. Last game was a total fluke."

I didn't agree with her there. Molly had out flown him fair and square as far as I was concerned but I didn't dare say anything. Malia doesn't speak up much, in practice or otherwise, and I knew if I countered her it would end badly. Derrick still seemed surprised but she just smiled at him again and stooped down to pick up her broom. The practice was the best we had, had since break but it still sucked.

"Lia," I said now, grabbing her arm before she could line up with the rest of the team. "If we go with Derrick's strategy we're going to lose."

"If going with a different strategy means we're going to lose then we aren't very good Quidditch players," she said. "He's our captain and it's our last game. If you and Eddie try anything I'm not going along with it. We win as a team and we lose as one. End of story."

"You tried mate," Eddie sighed, clapping me on the back. "But I did warn you."

"I wish we weren't playing Dexter. Only someone in her family would be able to convince her to go against the captain." Eddie and I had cornered West a few days earlier, hoping that he would talk to her, but he was a Hufflepuff so his belief in loyalty outweighed his fear of us which I still found slightly insulting.

"We're going against Derrick?" Jana asked in a low voice.

"No." I kept my voice as low as hers so that Derrick wouldn't be able to hear. I looked over to where the rest of the team was already lined up and ran my hand through my hair. "Malia won't agree to it and if she doesn't then the whole thing is for nothing."

"We could still go against him, couldn't we?" She asked hopefully.

"There's no point," Eddie said. "If we don't have Malia on board all of our chasing will be even more off-center than it is anyways and she's the only one who would be able to convince Louis and McLaggan."

"I could convince Louis," I told him.

"No, you really couldn't. Anyways, it's too late now and as much as I hate to admit it Malia's kind of right. It would be disrespectful to go against him. You and McLaggan just have to play your best and try to keep the bludgers away. We'll do our best with the formation he gave us but it's really going to come down to whether he catches the snitch after everything he's implemented."

"Agreed." I didn't want to but I knew he was right. I just really didn't want to lose.

"Oi, you three," Derrick hissed. "It's time."

We quickly stepped into our places in the line and followed everyone out. The Gryffindor stands went wild and I felt a smile take over my face immediately. It's the best part, just before the match starts. The crowd is wound up and the screams are deafening while the boos blend into the backgrounds.

I looked up at our stands and saw the sheets that had been turned into signs and the red and gold filling the Gryffindor stands and the majority of the Hufflepuff stands. Apparently some of them still thought they could beat us if we won. How they worked that out considering the snitch is worth 150 points I wasn't sure but I wasn't about to protest it considering we always needed all the fans we could get when we played Ravenclaw.

"I want a nice, clean game." Madame Robins said as she stared each of us down. After deeming our nods acceptable she turned her attention back to the captains in the center of the pitch adding, "Captains, shake hands."

Dexter and Derrick each stuck out their hands, grasping them briefly before quickly letting go.

"Mount your brooms," she added and we all straddled them.

The shrill of her whistle sounded and we pushed up into the air. Moments later the Quaffle was thrown up and Malia swooped in to take it, one of the few things Derrick hadn't bothered changing. Probably because he didn't know that you actually planned out how you were going to get the Quaffle rather than all diving in at once.

"And it's Wood with the Quaffle!" Jordan shouted. "Sorry, Wood II…I always forget I have to name them when they play each other. Although maybe she should be Wood IV or Girl Wood?—Malia is flying up the pitch, she dodges her brother—nice one there—and passes off to Potter who passes to Finnegain—shoots—Goal! Gryffindor up ten-nil. And John Davies retrieves the Quaffle. He's new this year but he sure has been doing his job. Davies passes off to Boy Wood who shoots down the pitch, going against his sister and Wood the II-slash-IV takes the Quaffle, flying down the pitch, passes—no! Intercepted by Bletchley. Bletchley's going down the pitch and—Score! Ravenclaw ties the game at 10-10. It looked like Weasley was in about to have a seizure there. Hopefully he hasn't developed Ballistophobia. That's the fear of balls for those of you who don't know—I was being serious Professor!"

After the Ravenclaw's got one in everything went downhill. The opening play was good because it was exactly the way we always played. Malia took the ball, I sped down her left, Eddie was on her right and then we rotated in a weave formation when we were marked too tightly to pass. After that, it was absolute crap.

"Malia goes up to challenge—NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! He wants to pass with his left hand! And Dexter puts in another easy shot. Ravenclaw up 70-30. Come on mates, get it together! Weasley retrieves the ball, passes to Potter who—turns right into Bletchley! Come on James, she's always there! Bletchley shoots—WHAT ARE YOU DOING LOUIS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BLOCK THE QUAFFLE! IT'S NOT A BLOODY BLUDGER! And Weasley passes off to Finnegan who goes down the pitch, passes to James who passes to Wood who shoots…blocked! Blocked by Ravenclaw keeper Davies. Come on Malia, you're average is going way down. What would you dad say?"

I glanced over at Malia who glowered at Jordan and made a hand gesture that gave Ravenclaw a penalty. Dexter went up to take it and gave Malia a questioning look. She ignored him as her mouth turned into a thin line. She was pissed. Dex put it in easily and Ravenclaw was up 90-30. I glanced over at Malia again as Louis retrieved the Quaffle and saw her eyes closed. This game was as bad as our practices. Louis passed it off to me and I barely touched it before hitting it over to Eddie who immediately lost it. Louis made one of his three blocks so far in the game.

"Potter with the Quaffle, dodges Wood the I or III and passes off to Malia who passes it back, dives below, Potter passes it back Wood the II or IV gives it to Eddie, back to Wood—GOAL! Ravenclaw still leading 90-40. Bletchley with the Quaffle—ooh, nice bludger there by McLaggan and Finnegan recovers the Quaffle, passes to—oh, Wood swerves to avoid a bludger by Weasley and misses the Quaffle. Come on Malia, what happened to your grab and spin move? Wood the I and III with the Quaffle, he scores, Ravenclaw up by 60."

Within the next ten minutes they were up by 90 and eventually up by 160 when the seekers dove. Ravenclaw was creaming us and catching the snitch wouldn't even win us the match.

"And it's a false alarm!" Jordan called through his microphone. "Both seekers pull up from the ground.

Twenty minutes later it was the real thing. We were still down with 80 points compared to their 220. Derrick barely got his fingers around the snitch but we all knew the outcome already.

"And Gryffindor barely squeaks by with a win but the cup still belongs to the Ravenclaw and after this match I have to say it was well-deserved. I don't know what happened to Gryffindor during the break but I think they need some time to re-group because their new strategy and plays did not help them today."

We all landed on the ground and no one said a word to each other. Derrick was smiling triumphantly but everyone else had blank looks on their face.

Malia tried to give him a smile but I had never seen it look more forced. It become slightly more real when she watched Dexter lift the cup up but anyone with a brain knew that she wanted that to be her, not him. Not liking to lose was what had helped our team last year. This year Derrick screwed us whether he was our captain or not. Louis was shaking as he landed on the ground.

The beaters hadn't hit a single bludger in his area unless he it was our own aiming at Ravenclaw but he had been squeamish the entire match, dodging the Quaffle more than bludgers.

Eddie disappeared into the locker room without a word to anyone and Jana followed him.

McLaggan chucked his broom down on the ground angrily and stormed off the pitch. He had a hot-temper but even I couldn't blame him for being pissed off.

Derrick continued to look confused and it took all my self-control not to punch him.

"You played well," I heard Shaundra offer up to someone, trying to be helpful.

"Keep saying stuff like that and you're going to be as awful a liar as I am," I heard Malia attempt to joke but it sounded dejected.

"Are you okay?" Shaundra asked. "Scorpius seemed to get a good hit on you."

"It's fine," Malia replied. "Just a few broken fingers. Madam Bone will fix me up in a jiffy. I'll stop by before dinner. Wait for me, yeah? I better congratulate Dex."

I watched as she walked away. I knew I should congratulate him too but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'd say something to him tomorrow.

I took a long shower in the locker rooms and let all of the mud and grime wash off. They weren't exactly nice showers and most people preferred to shower in their dorm but Eddie had already gone up and I didn't feel like waiting around in the common room where I would have to deal with all the dejected looks and people who were begging for an explanation.

I was expecting the locker rooms to be empty when I walked out but instead found Malia, still in her Quidditch robes and completely covered in dirt most likely from when she had gone to congratulate Dexter. Whenever they played someone in their family, the loser got bombarded by handfuls of mud and dirt from the rest of them. It was the worst when the ground was wet. The mud would cling to everything from your hair to your robes. Dirt could be at least semi-rubbed off.

"I know what you're going to say," Lia said without turning around.

"What am I going to say?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"That we should have gone against him. But you're wrong."

"Oh?" I asked, having not planned on saying that at all.

"If we had gone against him we may have won but it wouldn't have mattered. Our house would be happy but our team would be divided and even though he should have put winning the cup above his own need to prove himself he's the captain and we can't change that."

"I know," I said.

"And—wait what?" she asked, finally spinning around to face me.

"I know," I repeated. "Yeah, I wanted to win the cup but you're right, to go against him would have been a bad idea. As much as I hate to think about it, there's still next year and then we can come back strong."

"Right," she said slowly, giving me an odd look.

"Besides, one of us will be captain next year and we want to win the cup and actually know a thing or two about the other positions."

"How do you know it's going to be one of us?" she asked.

"Louis' to young," I said, listing them off on my fingers. "Jana's got her modeling thing that's constantly conflicting, Eddie has the attention span of a goldfish, and McLaggen is graduating. That leaves us."

"I could still see Longhbottom picking Zabini. She hasn't let her modeling interfere with Quidditch so far," she pointed out reasonably.

"You know, you never told me why you hated her," I said thoughtfully.

"I don't hate her!" she exclaimed. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Well she is the only person on the team you call by their last name."

"You call Cormac by his last name," she pointed out.

"But I openly admit that I don't like him," I shrugged. "And he calls me 'Potter' too. Jana calls you by your first name."

"I'm sorry," Malia said, sounding more annoyed than sorry. "Would it make you happier if I started calling you Potter?"

"Didn't we get passed the surnames a long time ago?" I asked her, knowing that I was treading on thin ice but unable to stop.

"You know what," she snapped. "I'm not doing this right now. I have OWL's to study for so I'll see you later. Have a good night." She added it as an afterthought once she was already walking through the door.

The common room was silent when I entered. A few people sent glares my way but I just shook my head when Lily and Albus tried to talk to me. I wasn't in the mood to hear their lectures or answering all the questions I was sure everyone in our house had. Not when I was still so pissed.

Instead I took refuge in my dorm and followed Eddie's lead—getting ready for bed early and pulling my curtains closed, doing a bit of my homework until I was ready to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and/or favorited this story so far! The support means the world to me! Any typos, favorite quotes, or thoughts are awesome.**


	5. The Woods Part II

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**Chapter 5: The Woods Part II**

**Malia**

**We rarely confide in those that are better than we are. ~Albert Camus**

After losing the Quidditch Cup the rest of the year went relatively quickly. I spent 99 percent of my time studying and the last one percent testing. I barely ate anything; I didn't work out more than once a week (a bad idea for me); and I ignored everyone aside from Rose, Shaundra, and Albus who would all study with me. Even then the only time we made a sound was when we were testing each other or sighing as we rubbed our red eyes.

History of Magic was our last, and easiest, examination of the year. It was the perfect way to end the year and I knew I had passed as I put the final dot on my piece of paper and picked it up to read over the last paragraph I had written. I went over my W in war to make sure it wouldn't be mistaken for another letter and wiped off the remaining ink on my quill before placing beside my exam, flexing my fingers that had been cramped around the feather for the past three hours. I was done. And with that thought a huge smile took over my face.

Looking around I calculated that the majority of the fifth yeas had finished (or given up on) the exam. About a fourth of the hall was filled with students scribbling frantically as they attempted to finish within the time frame, another quarter were reclining casually in their chairs and appeared satisfied with their work, and the last half of the class had their heads down or lolling backwards having fallen asleep somewhere during the three hour period.

Albus' right cheek was in his ink-well and a few seats to the right of me Rose, who had no doubt finished already, had her head down on her arms. Shaundra was still working a few rows behind Rose and Scorpius Malfoy was writing frantically directly behind me. The scratching of his quill had been distracting throughout the exam. You would think they would consider some silencing spells necessary to make sure that students weren't communicating answers via Morse code.

I wouldn't put it past Tommy to have tried it.

"Quills down please," Professor Hobbs announced as the hourglass dropped the last grain down the tube. "That means you too, Malfoy," he added, flicking his wand at Malfoy who was still attempting to finish his sentence. His quill rose from his hand and I grinned as he glared at Hufflepuff Head of House. With another wave of Hobbs' wand everyone's exams flew towards him and sorted themselves into neat piles on his desk.

"You may go," he said as an examiner hurried towards his desk to collect them all. I stood and waited for Albus to make his way over, trying not to giggle when he rubbed his right cheek in an attempt to wipe the ink off. It only spread it around more. I caught Rose's eye and indicated for her not to say anything. She smiled and nodded, waiting for us to reach her. Shaundra was talking to a group of Hufflepuff's who were sitting nearby so we left without her.

"Well I don't think that was too bad," Rose said brightly. "And we're done with exams."

"I thought it was pretty easy in comparison to some of the others. I swear I failed divination. I told the examiner that her daughter was going to get married in three years. Turns out her daughter _is_ three." I shook my head, wondering if I would get partial credit for seeing the three. Well, pretending I saw a three, it was a bit of a stab at the Womping Willow to be honest. The mere fact that she had a daughter was lucky.

"I'm going to do worse than both of you," Albus groaned. "I told my examiner he was going to die eighty years ago and I fell asleep half-way through this one. Who likes History of Magic anyways? Beside's you," he added hastily, catching my raised eyebrow.

"My mum isn't going to be too happy when she sees my Herbology grade," Rose revealed, biting her lip. "My practical was worse than I've ever done on any test and I waffle between Acceptable and Exceeds Expectations as is."

"Aren't you the one who said that OWL's are ridiculous exams used to strip away our individuality?" Albus pointed out as Shaundra caught up with us.

"Well yes," Rose admitted. "But my mum doesn't exactly agree with me, does she?"

"Don't worry," Shaundra told Rose. "You'll still do better than the three of us combined."

"Agreed," I sighed. "Why do I have to follow Luke and Dexter? They're both smart."

"You're smart too, Malia," Rose tried to cheer me up. "There are different kinds of smarts. You're smart about people and Quidditch. Dexter's book smart and Luke is Quidditch and book smart."

"Yeah, Luke's horrible with people," Shaundra added. "That's why he wasn't captain, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "People and Quidditch smart (whatever the heck that means) won't help me much. Still, I think I may have at least passed my charms OWL. Oh, why are we even talking about this? Exams are done!"

"How many do you think you failed?" Dexter asked, plopping down beside me while Fred took the seat across from him. "Four? Five? Nine?"

"Do you have something to say or are you just here to ruin my good mood?" I asked, directing my question at Dexter.

"Nah," Fred assured me when Dexter merely shrugged. "We're here to congratulate you on surviving the worst year of your life. I heard NEWT's aren't even as bad because you have fewer subjects to study for."

"I get two years before I have to worry about them, thank Merlin," I said, feeling relieved that I wouldn't be as stressed out next year as I was this year.

"That's what I thought too," Roxie sighed. "But then I realized that sixth year really goes by much too fast."

"Have you heard from Mum or dad?" Dexter asked. He and Fred had apparently decided to join our table as they both started making their own plates.

"They sent me a letter before exams wishing me good luck but that was it, why?" I asked.

"The whole ticket switcheroo thing. I wanted to know if I was allowed to bring Eddie since they lost their tickets."

"You lost your tickets?" I asked, turning to Shaundra in surprise.

"Oh, yeah," she shrugged. "Eddie was pretty upset."

"I do not understand you," I said, shaking my head.

"None of us do," Dexter said, grinning at her. She just shrugged again. "One of these days you will all come to realize that there is more to life than Quidditch."

"One of these days you will come to realize the genius that is Quidditch," I countered.

"Possibly," Shaundra shrugged. "But in the meantime I prefer to not have my happiness depend on who wins the cup."

"I'll second that," Albus agreed.

"I really need to start hanging out with people who understand Quidditch." I shook my head at their antics and looked around for Rose who had disappeared as soon as we entered the hall.

"What are we? Dead fish?" Freddy asked in indignation.

I laughed. "Right, sorry. I really need to start hanging out with people in my year who understand Quidditch. What am I going to do when we're seventh years?"

"Talking about the World Cup?" Rose asked brightly, reappearing at my side and sounding appropriately excited.

"I knew there was a reason I was friends with a Ravenclaw," I said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, pointing my fork at her approvingly.

When we got onto the Hogwarts Express a few days later I had a much more enjoyable ride than on the way to Hogwarts. Rose joined Shaundra and I part-way through and I had to collect myself when I realized she had brought a friend.

"Malfoy, nice match," I said, sounding as casual as I could.

"Thanks," he said, looking uncomfortable. "You, err, played well."

I laughed. "No need to try and make me feel better. We all know we played like rubbish but we'll come back and beat you for the cup next year."

"You keep telling yourself that," he said, smirking now that we were back on familiar turf. "But seriously, what happened to you guys out there? I couldn't figure it out. It was like you hadn't played together before."

Rose nudged him but I waved her off.

"It's okay," I told her. "We were just having an off match. It happens from time to time when you don't want it to."

"Rumor has it McPhee changed everything on you guys last minute. Put the match over the Cup is what most of the Gryffindor's are saying. He's not very popular right now."

It would have been easy to agree with him. To rant about Derrick and everything that he had done to mess up our chances. To complain about how he never should have been captain or to list all of the reasons why the loss was his fault. But it really wasn't. You win as a team, you lose as a team, and you make mistakes as a team.

The lost cup was all of our faults. The beaters should have kept their heads; James, Eddie, and I should have worked harder on the plays and done extra practice on our formation instead of passive-aggressively protesting it; Louis should have kept his eyes on the Quaffle and been concerned with stopping it rather than letting the Ravenclaw beaters mess with his head; and yes, Derrick should have been a better captain. But it didn't matter now. We were still a team and our loyalties still lied with each other.

So I didn't rant. Not to a member of an opposing team anyways, I had spent an hour venting to Shaundra after the match.

"We got too fancy," I shrugged. "We should have stuck to our game-plan instead of trying something new when we didn't have enough time to practice it. But it was still an off game. No one's fault individually, just a team flaw this season and something we have to work on for next year."

"You sound like you're talking to the press," Shaundra rolled her eyes, laying back on the bench and resting her head on Rose's lap.

For all of Malfoy's cocky behavior on the pitch, he really wasn't all that bad. I could understand why Albus didn't like him but he didn't act like the pretty-boy I had made him out to be and we were all laughing at his story about how Ravenclaw had pranked Hufflepuff the year before when the compartment door opened to reveal Eddie and Dexter who informed me that we would be going home with the Finnegan's because dad's trip had gotten extended. He and Bri would pick us up in the morning when they got back from France.

I was relieved to have another night without having to explain how we had lost the cup to my dad. He was always partial to Gryffindor, being his old house and all.

"Hey, Derrick!" I called as soon as we got off the train, catching him just before he reached his parents.

He looked over apprehensively and I once again got the feeling that he was waiting for me to get angry at him. It made me feel awful, that not catching the snitch in one match had caused his confidence to dwindle so much. If he were able to get it together mentally he would have a chance to go pro but without the mental toughness he didn't stand a chance.

"I just wanted to say thanks, you've been a nice captain," I said when I reached him. "I'm really going to miss you next year but we'll win the cup for you."

He smiled, the tension in his face disappearing as I met his dark blue eyes.

"Thanks Malia," he sighed. "I'm sorry we didn't get the cup. I—"

"Forget it," I cut him off. "My brother knew what he was doing. They won fair and square; it was just an off game. But seriously, come back and watch us play next year, we'll make you proud."

I gave him a hug quickly before turning around to find the Finnegan's. To my surprise, it seemed as though the rest of the team had followed me over, all ready to shake Derrick's hand or, in Zabini's case, give him a hug. I found Cormac and gave him a hug as well. We may not have been friends but we were team mates and there are times when that relationship is stronger and even more important than any other. My dad always said that you know you have a good team when you can lose without breaking.

Smiling slightly I slipped away, not liking big goodbyes.

**If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid. ~Unknown**

"We did it!" Dexter yelled, running into my room. The door was opened with such force that it ricocheted off the little rubber door stop and slammed shut again.

"Did what?" I asked agitatedly, muttering under my breath as I attempted to clean up the blotches on my letter to Shaundra that had occurred from his unceremonious exclamation.

"We made it to the finals!" he exclaimed.

"SERIOUSLY?" I screamed, jumping up and completely forgetting about the letter. It's not like it said anything important anyways.

Dexter nodded, his broad grin still in place and I shrieked again, diving on top of him and accidentally knocking him to the floor. We had been to every one of England's games except for this one—the semi-finals.

Brianna had, had a meeting and dad had to deal with a last-minute situation at work. Kylie, liking but not being obsessed with Quidditch, decided to skip the match and go to a football game instead (don't even bother asking me why). Dexter, West, and I were all invited to go to the match with the Potter's but only Dexter had accepted. I made up some bullshit story about homework and West had been a right prat all break so none of us really knew what was up with him.

"You should've came Malia," Dexter said, once we had sat up and he had re-hashed every detail of the match for me. "It was twenty-five minutes of pure excitement."

"I still can't believe it only lasted twenty-five minutes," I shook my head. "That's got to be some sort of record."

"The shortest game in World Cup history," Dexter nodded importantly.

"Really?" I asked.

"Well no, it's second shortest. The announcer said the shortest was twenty-three minutes but it was still pretty close."

"Well at least I didn't miss history," I shrugged. "How did Luke play?"

"Fine," he shrugged. "He caught the snitch obviously but he wasn't in a very chatty mood afterwards. You know him though, focused 110% on whatever he's doing. He can't multi-task to save his life."

"Kind of like you," I grinned and Dexter shrugged, not bothering to deny it.

"What did you do while we were gone?" he asked, looking around as though there should have been some crazy accomplishment.

"Well I was attempting to write a letter but I spilled my ink all over it when you decided to storm in and scare the beejeebers out of me," I replied, glaring at him for good measure.

"Here." He took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment, never one to miss out on a chance to prove that he could do magic out of school. "All fixed."

"Why thank you, kind sir. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here to save me with your amazing skills of magic. You just saved me from having to re-write an entire letter that Shaundra doesn't really care about anyways because it's just a continuation of our debate on whether Arithmancy or Divination is a more pointless subject."

"Happy to help," he said, ignoring my sarcasm. "Want to play Quidditch?"

"Sure," I agreed immediately. "Just let me finish this."

_So, basically, Arithmancy is just as stupid as Divination and both are pointless subjects._

_On a much happier note: ENGLAND IS IN THE FINALS! ! ! ! ! !_

_Love,_

_Malia_

I signed my name and followed Dexter downstairs, stopping in our living room to tie the letter onto our family owl as I don't have my own. I opened the window and let Joey fly out, gauging the weather at the same time. It had been raining earlier but had cleared up a few hours ago. It was still humid but the heat wasn't too bad so I decided to stay in my jean shorts and old Pride of Portree t-shirt Luke had gotten me when he first made the team.

"We're in the finals," Roxie grinned as soon as she saw me.

"Dexter told me," I smiled. "He didn't mention he had brought home an after-party."

"Probably thought you wouldn't play if you knew James was here," she said quietly, watching me closely as though waiting for me to finally give her a blow-by-blow. Instead I just picked a few grapes off the vine in the large blue bowl and stuffed them in my mouth.

"He really is smarter than I give him credit for, huh?" I muttered, leading her from the kitchen onto the deck where Dexter, Freddy, James, and Eddie were all waiting with brooms from our large supply in hand.

My dad collected brooms, of sorts. We had over twenty, all different brands and years, plus the personalized brooms he bought each of us. It was a bit of an over-kill but they would make a fortune one day, especially the ones that were no longer in production.

"Ready then," Dexter said brightly, pointedly avoiding my gaze.

"Yep," I said, summoning my broom. He was so dead when I got a hold of him tonight.

James met my eyes when I glanced his way and smiled, his brown eyes looking perfectly clear with happiness behind his rectangular glasses that he rarely wore. I smiled back and he looked away quickly when Freddy and Dexter started debating the best way to split up. In the end Dexter James and Roxie were put on one side with Fred, Eddie, and me on the other.

We should have had the advantage, since Eddie and I played together all the time, but Roxie is a force to be reckoned with. When she's on your team it's great but no one wants to be against her. She doesn't play by the rules and has no fear. We worked well with Freddy but Roxie's random jumps off her broom, her lack of care for the rule against holding onto the back of other people's brooms, and her extremely liberal use of her elbows ensured that the match was even despite the fact that she wasn't on a team at Hogwarts.

We played past lunch and didn't even notice as the sun began to go down, finally stopping when Kylie got home and called us all in, worried because a storm was heading in our direction.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Bri asked the group at large when we all trampled in.

"Yes please," Roxie said immediately, sitting down at the kitchen table and opening the neon pink polish I had used on my nails just that morning.

"I should be heading home," Eddie said. "My dad will want a blow-by-blow of the match over dinner."

Freddy left too, muttering something about the joke shop but I didn't miss the look that passed between him and Roxie: his warning, hers self-satisfied with an added smirk. I raised my eyebrows but didn't question it as she handed me the polish to paint her right hand.

"What are they doing here?" West asked moodily. His hair still looked bed-head messy and he hadn't changed out of his pajama pants. Bri looked at him disapprovingly but didn't comment on it, instead answering his question with a simple,

"They're having dinner with us." I watched West curiously as he opened the pantry and took out a box of cookies, shoving one into his mouth whole. "I would prefer it if you didn't get anything to eat. Dinner will be done in ten minutes," she told him.

West shrugged. "Whatever," he muttered, taking the box with him and going back upstairs.

"He's been like this all summer," I whispered to Roxie who was looking after him in surprise. "I have no idea what's gotten into him."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Hormonal teenager?" she suggested.

I shrugged. "I don't remember Dexter acting like that but maybe. It's just so not West and Bri has no idea what to do. It's been a strange break."

"Hey, have you gotten your results yet?" she asked, changing the subject suddenly and raising her voice back up to a normal level.

"Not yet," I sighed. "They should be here any day."

No sooner had I spoke than an owl swooped in through the open kitchen window, dropping a letter down in front of me. It hooted and Bri handed it a treat before it took flight again, not caring that it had started to rain.

"Well," Roxie pressed. "Are you going to open it then?"

I tried not to be nervous but I couldn't stop my stomach from dropping as I stared at the Hogwarts seal. The best I could do was act like I didn't care and keep my hands from shaking as James and Dexter came in from the family room, watching me curiously as I carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper inside.

**ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS**

**_Pass Grades Fail Grades_**

OUTSTANDING (O) POOR (P)

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E) DREADFUL (D)

ACCEPTABLE (A) TROLL (T)

**_Malia Erin Wood has achieved:_**

Astronomy E

Care of Magical Creatures A

Charms E

Defense Against the Dark Arts P

Divination A

Herbology E

History of Magic O

Potions A

Transfiguration E

I read over it again and allowed my breathing to calm. I had known Defense would be bad and History of Magic had always been one of my better subjects along with Transfiguration but Charms was a huge surprise. I knew I had done well on the exam, better than I normally did in class, but getting an E made all of the late nights and all of the extra study sessions with Rose screaming at me worth it. Of course, she would take full credit for the mark even though all she had done was get mad at me when I couldn't repeat back to her the entire theory behind color-changing charms in one breath.

"How'd you do?" Dexter demanded, sounding as anxious as I had felt opening the letter. I looked up, keeping my face completely at ease and as blank as possible.

"Alright," I shrugged, handing the letter over to him. Roxie quickly hurried around the table so that she could read over his shoulder with James.

"How the hell did you get an E in Charms?" Dexter asked, his face going slack as he stared at me. Bri took the letter and raised her eyebrows at the mark too.

"I don't know," I said, half-honestly. "Guess Rose's screamed instructions eventually sunk in."

Roxie laughed.

"Well you got more OWL's than me," she said, giving me a high five.

"Yeah but we could take the same number of classes," I pointed out with a shrug. "I just got more A's."

"Did you get all the classes you wanted?" Bri asked, scanning the letter again.

"I guess," I shrugged. "I certainly won't miss any of the other classes if that's what you mean. Quidditch Trainer is still an option since I passed Charms."

"And History of Magic," Roxie added, knowing how much I loved it. I nodded again.

"That too," I agreed, screwing the nail-polish lid back on after touching up my fingers. "But what about you, Seventh Year? What are you going to do after this year?"

"Well I'd rather like to go to Romania and try my hand with dragons," Roxie said. "But I'm still not really sure and mum would freak if she knew I was even considering it. Freddy wants to take over the shop so it's not like I need to follow in their footsteps but I don't know. I guess we'll see how it ends up. I figure I have the next year to decide for sure and I may as well apply, right?"

"I think dragons would be cool," James told her, looking surprised but impressed. "And I'm sure Uncle Charlie would love to show you the ropes."

"I actually talked to him a few weeks ago," she admitted, nibbling at her bottom lip. "He said he'd look into getting me an internship or something. Said once I broke it to my parents maybe I could come over for a week or two to see what it's really like so that I can make sure it's definitely my cup of tea."

"That's so cool," I said, feeling slightly awed. Then again, it was Roxie. "It would be so much fun to work with dragons."

"Don't get any ideas," Bri said, wagging her finger at me.

"Don't worry," I rolled my eyes. "I only got an Acceptable in Care of Magical Creatures. You need an Outstanding."

**They're the world my world revolves around, my sacred piece of solid ground, the flesh and bones that gives me strength to stand. ~Craig Campbell "Family Man" lyrics**

"Three eggs," Dexter announced proudly, dropping three eggs into the bowl. "What's next?"

"You have to crack the eggs dumbass," Tommy told him, smacking the back of his head as he reached his hands into the bowl and took out the eggs that were covered in oil.

"Ew!" I shrieked. "Don't use your hands, they're disgusting!"

"Shut up, they're cleaner than yours," Tommy told me, flicking water from the running faucet at me.

I laughed and grabbed the nearest towel to dry my face off.

"We're going to have to hurry up," West announced, walking into the room. "They're going to be home any minute."

"Dinner's done," Kylie told him, climbing onto one of the counter stools. "Dexter and Tommy just need to finish the cake."

"That's going to take a while," West snorted. "They have to learn to read first."

"Damn West, when did you become mean?" I teased him.

"Oh, I wasn't—" West stammered, turning red. I laughed.

"I was kidding," I told him half-honestly, picking up the plates again. West grumbled under his breath but I ignored him as he and Kylie picked up the utensils and glasses so we could finish setting the table.

"Is Luke coming?" Kylie asked.

"I don't know," West frowned slightly. "Tommy and Dexter didn't say anything about it."

"Should we set a place for him?" Kylie asked, holding the last glass in her hand.

"Do it in case," I decided. "He might show up."

"Doubt it," West mumbled and I sent him the same glare I had given Tommy a few minutes earlier.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" I asked him.

"Seriously West," Kylie agreed, sounding slightly dumbfounded. "Are you PMSing?"

"Shut up," West muttered. "Aren't I entitled to be cynical every once in a while?"

"No," Kylie, Dexter, Tommy, and I all chorused at the same time. West crossed his arms in a huff but we could all tell that he was holding back a smile.

"They're here!" Kylie whisper screamed as a flash of light appeared in our living room.

"Finish the cake, we'll get them started on dinner," I told Tommy and Dexter. "Oh and Dex," I added, popping my head back into the kitchen. "Cracking the eggs before you put them in the mix isn't stated in the directions because most people have enough common sense to know that you don't eat egg shells."

"Screw you," Dexter glared at me. I blew him a kiss and hurried into the family room right behind Kylie and West.

"Happy anniversary," West, Kylie, and I chorused as Brianna stepped out of the fire.

"Thanks loves," she smiled at us. "Your dad's running a little late, there was an Auror emergency that he had to sit in on but he'll be home soon."

"Okay," I agreed. "You want to freshen up? The boys are attempting to bake a cake for your anniversary and they could use all the time they can get."

"That sounds nice," she laughed. "I'll make dinner as soon as I change into something more comfortable."

"Okay," Kylie chirped. I rolled my eyes at her obvious excitement. Brianna looked a little surprised but didn't comment and kissed the top of all of our heads before going into her bedroom.

"I thought we cooked dinner so she wouldn't have to," West said, turning to look at me in confusion. Kylie and I glanced at each other and then left the room without answering.

"What?" West called after us. "Did I miss something?"

"Don't you always," Kylie called back.

"You cooked all this?" Brianna asked in amazement a few minutes later, looking at the table. It wasn't much really; just a salad, some bread, and a big bowl of soup but for us that was a huge accomplishment.

"Tommy did most of it," Kylie admitted, smiling shyly. "But we all helped out where we could."

"We wanted you and dad to be able to celebrate your anniversary," West explained. "You know, since neither of you could get off work."

"It looks amazing," Brianna smiled at him. "Do you guys want to wait for Oliver or start?"

"We can wait," Kylie said at the same time Dexter countered with,

"I'm hungry."

"We can wait," I agreed with Kylie. "Dexter's stomach can learn to be patient."

When I said that, I was expecting my dad to be home in a few minutes, not a few hours. It was six when Brianna got home; it was seven when Tommy started agreeing with Dexter that we should just eat; it was eight when West started nodding off; it was nine when Kylie and I decided to ice the cake while we waited. It was five to ten when my dad finally got home.

"Nice of you to show," Dexter said darkly, glaring at my dad. "Can we eat now?"

"Sorry I'm so late," dad said, oblivious to the five death-glares he was being sent. West alone didn't seem to mind, probably because he had been asleep for two of the hours, waking up only when Tommy punched him after my dad flooed in. "Are there any leftovers from dinner?"

"Ugh!" Kylie exclaimed, falling backwards onto the couch from the armrest she had been perched on.

"Well that was lovely," Brianna smiled at us all after we had finished our dinner—fifteen minutes before midnight.

"It would have been a lot lovelier if we had eaten at a normal time," Dexter said but his angry tone was squandered by the piece of cake still in his mouth.

"You said you wanted to wait," Brianna reminded him calmly.

"No I didn't, they said they wanted to wait," Dexter said, pointing an accusatory finger at Kylie and me.

"Oh get over it," I rolled my eyes. "You didn't die of starvation."

"Almost did," he mumbled.

"Well I have work tomorrow," Tommy announced, standing up from the table. "So I have to get back to my flat. I'll see you all later."

"You haven't heard from Luke have you?" Brianna asked as Tommy bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Not recently," Tommy shrugged. "I sent him an owl about tonight but he didn't respond. He's been practicing non-stop with the Cup next week, though, so I wouldn't expect to hear anything beforehand."

"Alright," Briana sighed. "Have a good night."

Tommy was twenty three, eight years older than I was, and he worked as one of the guards for Azkaban. He had erratic hours since they needed guards to be stationed around and inside the prison twenty-four-seven. He had to learn to sleep whenever and wherever because he would be working at four in the morning one day and not end until four in the morning the next day.

Briana said it was good for him because he was always so scheduled; it forced him to be more flexible. Unfortunately, the more unpredictable his work became, the more uptight he became with the rest of his life. It had only been in the past year that he had started lightening up again for which we were all grateful. Still, most of the time he was a pain in the arse. Even West had admitted to it.

"I'm heading up too," I said as soon as Tommy left. "I'm supposed to meet Roxie at nine tomorrow."

"Make sure you go for a run before you leave," my dad called after me. "You don't want to get out of shape just because it's the holiday."

"I will," I assured him just before I closed my door and the sounds from the dining room were muffled.

**The advantage of growing up with siblings is that you become very good at fractions. ~Robert Brault**

"Could I have a cup of vanilla ice-cream with hot fudge and caramel sauce?" I asked the man at the ice-cream counter.

"Coming right up," he said agreeably. "It'll be two sickles."

I handed the money over and took a seat at the counter as I waited for Roxie to arrive, spinning around in the chair pointlessly and stopping suddenly when I noticed the customer walking through the doors. I turned around quickly and picked up an old piece of parchment with all of the ice-cream flavors offered, trying my best to become invisible.

It was a pointless attempt, however, and he saw me. I blame my hair. I was hoping that he would just turn around and pretend he didn't see me as well but avoiding things wasn't one of James' strong points so he got up from the table he had sat down at and I saw him make his way towards me out of the corner of my eye. I closed my eyes briefly and begged Merlin to have him walk by me to the restroom.

Merlin, apparently, was on holiday.

"Hey," James said and I was forced to look up.

"Hey," I repeated, trying to match his friendly tone. "What are you doing here?"

"Meeting Eddie and Dexter, you?" he asked.

"Waiting for Roxie," I said, putting the menu back where I had got it. "You might be waiting a while for Dexter though; we held off dinner until my dad got home which is always a mistake and none of us went to bed until midnight. Dexter was still out when I left."

"Dad was called into work last night too," James commented lightly. "He was going to stay home all day but he got a patronus from Uncle Ron around five saying he had to get into the office."

"Sounds about right," I said, drumming my fingers on the table nervously.

"So I heard you were made Quidditch captain," I finally broke the silence, raising my eyebrows questioningly.

"Sure did," James said, smiling again. I internally groaned. _Why? _"You're trying out again, right?"

"Of course," I scoffed. "I think my dad would die of heartbreak if I didn't."

"Right," James chuckled softly.

"Here you go," the ice-cream man said, sliding my ice-cream cup towards me.

"Thanks," I said, taking a plastic spoon out of the metal holder.

"I swear you have the biggest sweet tooth on the planet," James said and I looked at him incredulously.

"I'm sorry, have you met my brother?" I asked him.

"Okay, second biggest sweet tooth on the planet," he corrected before meeting my eyes and turning serious. "You ready for next year?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" I countered. "I finished my exams."

"You know that's not what I mean," he said, never one to take my bull lying down. "I meant the Quidditch season."

"We'll be fine," I rolled eyes at him, not wanting to have the awkward "let's go back to being friends" conversation. Just forgetting what happened was much more appealing.

…okay, so maybe that's a lie. I didn't want to forget it happened I just…Merlin, I have no freaking idea what I want.

"I should warn you now that I'm out of shape though," I said, keeping the subject as Quidditch-oriented as possible. "Dad's been hounding me but I've been lazy all break."

"You look good," he said with a smirk and I didn't miss the double-meaning.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I admitted. I knew my face was turning red but it wasn't like I could stop it. I had never been good at hiding my embarrassment and the fact that my statement was an understatement didn't help much. He looked _really_ good. As usual he had ditched his glasses even though he really couldn't see all that well without them. He thought they were geeky and only wore them when he had to. "Like the t-shirt."

"Yeah, a pretty cool girl gave it to me," he said, casually.

"She has good taste," I grinned.

James smiled for the millionth just as the bell over the door jingled and Eddie and Roxanne walked in together, laughing at something or other. I hopped off the stool I had been sitting on and James pushed himself upright so that he wasn't leaning on the counter anymore.

"Hey, we should catch up some time," James said suddenly, catching my arm. "Get lunch or something."

"Sure," I agreed since there was really nothing else I _could_ say. "That sounds good."

He leaned in to give me a hug and I inwardly sighed again. _Did he have to make this harder?_

"See you around Lia," he said quietly as we both pulled away quickly. I forced myself to smile at him but turned my back quickly and made my way over to Roxie who raised her eyebrows at me.

I shook my head as imperceptibly as I could and we made our way to one of the tables.

"_That_," I said, answering her unasked question as we sat down. "Is what happened because you were late."

"Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, what did he say?"

"That he wants to catch up," I sighed.

"Please tell me you said no," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

"How could I?" I asked helplessly. "It would make everything awkward and we have to act normal if we're going to be on the same Quidditch team."

"Oh sweetie, I think we can all agree that _normal_ between the two of you is relatively non-existent right now."

"He acted normal," I shrugged. "He didn't seem bothered or nervous. He was laughing and joking like he always does and he even hugged me at the end. I think he just wants to have lunch to make sure we're good for the season."

"I don't doubt that," Roxie shrugged. "But after you've dated someone being friends is nearly impossible."

"Okay, first of all we never dated and secondly," I went on before she could interrupt. "We're not going to be friends; we're going to be teammates. That's all that matters."

"And you're going to get over him whilst spending at least six hours a week with him all hot and sweaty how exactly?"

"Well your negative attitude getting lost would be a nice start," I said pointedly. "And at least I don't have classes with him so it's not like we'll be together 24/7. Hey, I know! You can try out for Quidditch this year and be my buffer on the pitch! We need a new beater."

"I'll consider it," she said.

I looked up in surprise. "Really?"

"No." She laughed and I shrugged. It was worth a shot. She lacks the patience for a seeker but has a mean punch and loves causing people physical pain—the perfect resume for a beater.

"So, are you ready to tell me what happened yet?" Roxie asked after giving Mr. Holtz her order.

"There's nothing to tell. We just weren't right for each other. End of story."

"Come on Malia," she said in exasperation. "It's been six months; you have to give me something."

"Why don't you just talk to him?" I asked in annoyance. "He's better at explaining stuff than I am and besides, if anyone broke up with anyone, he broke up with me."

"You were planning on breaking it—whatever _it_ is—off with him the next day," she reminded me.

I paused, just stopping myself from changing the subject. I felt guilty not giving her the full story but I just didn't like to talk about it. She was best friends with my _brother_ for Merlin's sake. Sure, she was one of my best friends too but that didn't make it much better. I had only given Shaundra a summary and Rose was completely clueless, smart enough not to stick her nose in my business when I didn't want her to.

"If I tell you, you are sworn to secrecy for the rest of your life," I said and she nodded eagerly. "I'm serious Roxie, don't tell my brother, don't tell your brother, and don't you dare mention a thing to any of your cousins. Clear?"

"I won't say anything," Roxie swore, crossing her heart.

"And you have to give me a sip of your shake," I added.

"Fine," she conceded, sliding it over to me just as Mr. Holtz placed it in front of her. He shot us an irritated glare but we both ignored him. He was so touchy about sales and hated when people shared things.

"So what happened?"

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so I'm mad because I got all of the OWL results formatting done in word, copying it straight from the book, and fanfictions formatting won't let me do it because you can't have more than one space between words. UGH.**

**Anyways, what did you think of the chapter? Obviously it was all in Malia's POV but next chapter starts off with James' POV at the ice-cream parlor. And, just so you know, next chapter is also the World Cup. Predictions? If you go on my profile I have LINKS FOR ALL OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS so check them out and tell me what you think. Especially for the cannon next gen. characters. AKA the Weasley and Potter kids. Anyone have ideas for Scorpius? I'm still trying to figure him out. . .**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and as always leave your thoughts, comments, criticism, typos you caught, or anything else in the little review box!**


	6. The World Cup

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**_Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING!_**

**Chapter 6: The World Cup**

**James Potter**

**There are two types of secrets: the kind you ****_want_**** to keep in, and the kind you don't ****_dare_**** to let out. ~Ally Carter**

"What was that?" Eddie demanded as soon as we were out of earshot of the girls.

"What was what?" I asked, taking a seat in the booth.

"Don't play dumb," Eddie rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't anything. We were just talking."

"About what?" he asked.

"About the secret love affair we've been having since January," I said sarcastically. "It wasn't about anything, just what was going on with the Auror department, Quidditch, and ice-cream—really riveting conversation."

"Dex won't like it if you start screwing with her," Eddie warned.

"I'm not screwing with her," I said honestly, glancing over at the table where she was talking to Roxie. "We were seriously just talking. We're going to win the cup this year and if that means acting normal then that's what we're going to do."

"Can I get you boys anything?" Mr. Holtz asked, walking up to us before Eddie could say anything else.

I really didn't want anything but I had been to Mr. Holtz's Ice-cream Parlor enough times to know that when he asks if he can get you anything he really means buy something or get out. He is a nice enough guy most of the time but he is all about his shop and hates loiterers almost as much as he hates people ordering his specials.

"I'll have the Special," I told him, feeling the need to piss someone off.

"You don't even know what's in it son," he said, his grip tightening on the notepad he was carrying. "You might not like all the toppings."

"I'm not picky," I shrugged. "I've liked all of your ice-cream flavors I've tried so far."

It was a lie but he didn't know it. Truth is the only safe thing to get at this place is a scoop of ice-cream with toppings you specifically ask for. All of his combinations are disgusting. I'm pretty sure he makes his Specials as revolting as he can, just to stop people from taking the chance.

"I know what you've ordered," he said, giving me a forced smile. "And I know you won't like this."

"Well let's try it," I suggested. "If I don't like it I'll buy another and I'll pay for both of them."

He was torn. The Special didn't give him a profit but if I bought a second cone with the Special it would be worth it. In the end he seemed to decide to take up my offer since he didn't say anything else to me and instead turned to Eddie who ordered a chocolate cone. Pansy.

"So just to be clear, you're not the least bit bothered about what happened last year?" Eddie asked as Mr. Holtz walked away with our orders.

"Not at all," I said coolly. "It's over between us. As long as we can work together on the pitch, it's all good."

"Mate, you are so full of bullshit I'm surprised you haven't exploded yet," Eddie laughed, shaking his head at me. "No one with a brain is going to believe you."

"Thanks mate, that's really the support I was looking for," I told him, clapping him on the back.

We discussed the upcoming Quidditch season and the World Cup Finals that England had made for the first time in our lifetimes as we waited for our orders and eventually dug into our sundaes. Mine, as I suspected, was disgusting. I picked up my napkin to spit it out as inconspicuously as I could before taking out my wand and vanishing the top third of my sundae in case Mr. Holtz walked by. As long as I did it slowly enough I would be able to make it look like I was really eating it.

"You know how you wanted support?" Eddie said quietly when Dexter finally arrived, looking like he had just woken up.

"Yeah," I said curiously.

"Well you had better hope that Dexter's too tired and oblivious to notice all of your staring if you don't want to be _on_ Life Support."

"Who needs life support?" Dexter asked, throwing himself down next to Eddie. "Because I am the Support Master. I am like a therapist only without a degree. In fact, last night I single-handedly made sure that my mum and dad were able to spend their anniversary together despite dad having some work emergency. I made sure that everyone waited to have the dinner that I cooked until he got back because I wanted to make sure that they were able to celebrate it."

"You cooked dinner?" Eddie said skeptically at the same time I asked,

"You waited to eat?"

"Well," Dexter said, trying to sound modest. "I had a little help with the dinner. You know, I wanted to get my siblings involved so that they felt like they contributed. And I considered eating before dad got back because everyone was so hungry but I ultimately decided that mum spending her anniversary with her husband was more important than our stomachs."

Eddie and I both cracked up at the same time, laughing harder when Dexter actually managed to look offended.

"And I thought James was full of bullshit," Eddie choked out.

That sobered me right up and I threw half of my ice-cream at his face. He wiped it off with his napkin and glared at me.

"What was James full of bullshit about?" Dexter asked, his attention captured by the gossip. I noticed his gaze snap over to Roxie and Lia as he said it and immediately got nervous.

"Oh, err," Eddie tried to think of a cover story while I glared at him. "Well he's saying that Slytherin won't play dirty this year."

"Why the hell would you think that?" Dexter asked, turning to me as I kicked Eddie under the table.

Out of all of the cover stories he could have used he had to go with something as ridiculous as me being naïve enough to believe that Slytherin wouldn't play dirty? They always play dirty, even when they're winning. They measure their success based on how many bones they can break. They are bloody idiots who play Quidditch in a sick attempt to see blood and take out all their anger management issues. Of course they were going to play dirty!

"Well Eleanor's captain this year," I said, talking without having any idea what I was going to say.

"So?" Dexter asked predictably. "It's Eleanor Flint, she has no mercy."

"Well she's a girl," I said, still not knowing where I was going with this. "And you know, girls don't like to play dirty because they all have morals and stuff. And then, uh, they lost their two beaters and since she won't want to play dirty she'll probably pick out pansies and they won't play dirty. So basically, she's not going to be going for blood and the team…won't be dirty this year," I finished lamely. It sounded insane, even to my own ears.

"Eddie's right, you are full of bullshit," Dexter finally said when his voice returned. "I mean, you have met your Roxanne, right? And Flint's in Slytherin, meaning she's going to be ten times worse."

"You don't know that," I said, sticking with the story only because I knew he would realize we were lying if I didn't. I never back down. "New captain, new strategies."

"Okay, five sickles says Flint picks two big guys and sticks to their current motto of 'win or break as many bones as possible before you lose," Dexter said cockily.

"Deal," I said easily, shaking the hand he extended.

"Well in that case I'm going to get a particularly large sundae," Dexter said, sounding positively delighted. He really did have the same sweet tooth as Lia.

"Ow!" Eddie shrieked when I socked his arm as hard as I could from across the table. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You just lost me five sickles," I snapped.

"Well you didn't have to take the deal," Eddie defended himself. "Besides, none of this would have happened if you weren't—"

"Don't say it," I warned him through gritted teeth.

Unfortunately, there's a reason Eddie was sorted into Gryffindor so he looked me dead in the eye and said exactly what I had warned him not to.

"Still stuck on Malia."

Things sort of escalated from there but in the end Dexter, Eddie, and I were all running out of the ice-cream parlor as fast as we could, covered in each other's ice-cream and a fair bit of Mr. Holtz's stock behind the counter that had been easiest for Dexter to reach. We rounded the corner and took refuge behind the trashcans that were outside the door of the Leakey Cauldron and all sank to the floor as we laughed harder.

"I think we'd best stay clear of that place for a little while," Eddie said. "I don't think we'll be welcome until he's made enough profit to cover the stock we ruined."

"And has gotten enough orders for his special that he's over the fact that I didn't order a second cone," I added.

"Aw, I never got my cone," Dexter moaned. "He was still holding it when I had to retaliate against the two of you."

"How bad was the special?" Eddie asked, ignoring Dexter's complaints.

"Disgusting," I said, making a face at the thought. "I was planning on vanishing it all and acting like it was good but…" I trailed off and shrugged. I got to get back at Eddie and annoy Mr. Holtz at the same time. That was as good a deal as I was ever going to get.

Not having much else to do we hung out at the Leakey Cauldron for a bit and ran into random people out to get their shopping done before the World Cup since there's no telling whether there will be time after, depending on how long the game goes on, and then called it a day.

"I'm home," I called out, slamming the front door a little more loudly than I meant to.

"In the kitchen sweetheart," my mum called back. When I got into the room she was there with Aunt Hermione and Rose having tea. I greeted both of them and went straight to the fridge to get food; one bad ice-cream was not enough for lunch.

"James, why do you have ice-cream in your hair?" Rose asked, frowning at me. My mum and Aunt Hermione both stopped their conversation to watch curiously as I lifted my hand up to my hair and felt the gooey stuff.

"Huh, Eddie must have missed a spot," I said, trying to sound nonchalant as I took out my wand and vanished it. My mum would not be happy if she knew we had another incident, especially if she knew the incident was in Mr. Holtz's ice-cream parlor.

"James, _why_ was there ice-cream in your hair?" my mum asked.

"Because Eddie missed a spot," I said slowly as I started to back out of the room. "You know him, only half his brain can work at a time. Probably got distracted and didn't notice it."

"Stop right where you are," mum said, narrowing her eyes at me. I sighed, slumping down into a chair beside Rose knowing I was done for.

"How did ice-cream end up in your hair in the first place?" Aunt Hermione asked.

"Well I guess it started with having ice-cream," I shrugged. "To get ice-cream in ones hair, ice-cream does have to be present."

"James," mum snapped and I sighed again.

"Okay, okay," I conceded. Mr. Holtz was bound to send her a letter demanding compensation anyways. "Eddie, Dexter, and I got into an ice-cream fight at Mr. Holtz's ice-cream parlor."

"Again?" Rose asked. "Can't you guys be a little more creative? This has to be, like, the twentieth time you've gotten into trouble at that place."

"Who threw the first bite?" my mum asked tiredly.

"Well that's up for debate," I said slowly. "You see, technically my ice-cream hit Eddie first but really he provoked me so metaphorically he threw the first bite. And I know how much you want me to start seeing things beyond the surface level mother."

"How I managed to take care of you for seventeen years and have still hair left I do not know," she said, shaking her head in disapproval though she looked more amused than she probably intended to.

"I would never force you to pull your hair out," I told her, standing up since I knew this would probably be my only chance at an escape. "In fact, I'm really helping you stay young by keeping you in tune with all the going on's in my life. Besides, keeping everybody on their toes is part of my charm."

I kissed her on the cheek and left the room as quickly as I could, taking the stairs up to my room two at a time.

**Guys are like dogs. They keep comin' back. Ladies are like cats. Yell at a cat one time, they're gone. ~Lenny Bruce**

"James, wake up, wake up, wake up!" Lily screamed in my ear, shaking my shoulders roughly until I begrudgingly opened my eyes and looked at her blearily. As soon as my eyelids slid open she took it as her cue to start talking up a storm while my brain tried to catch up.

First I had to focus my eyes enough to realize there was only one of her, not three; then I noticed that she did in fact have hair (really bright red hair like our mum's); and finally I registered that the light flooding my room came from the hallway, not outside, and groaned. At Hogwarts I wouldn't have thought twice about hexing her but everyone knew mum and dad's strong belief's about attack—I mean, hexing—people who can't defend themselves. Lily may be well-equipped to give me a run for my money despite being three years younger but I knew my parents wouldn't see it that way.

Continuing to ignore her I rolled over in bed and grabbed the watch my parents had gotten me for my seventeenth birthday. It was four in the morning and although Lily has always been an early bird there were only two reasons she would be up (and more importantly, dare to wake me up) before the sun had even considered gracing us with it's presence—someone died or the Quidditch World Cup was upon us. Since I couldn't hear Albus crying in the room beside mine I was betting on the latter. Still tuning out her chatter I shoved her off the bed and pushed the covers away so that I could change into jeans and an England Quidditch t-shirt I had gotten at the beginning of the tournament.

"A simple 'Lily could you please leave so I can get changed' would be brilliant, thanks," Lily grumbled from the floor, rubbing her head that had hit my desk leg.

"Lily could you please leave so I can get changed?" I mocked. She huffed and stood up, slamming the door as she left and by the time I got downstairs mum was already berating me for the way I treated her, completely ignoring the fact that Lily is a bloody mental case who can't stop talking for more than thirty seconds.

Our portkey was set for four-thirty and we arrived just in time. Eddie, who lived a few houses down from ours, was coming with us though Shaundra had opted to stay home and his dad, who worked in the Magical Transportation Department, was already in Ireland helping with overflow work in return for getting to watch the match. The Goldstein's and Zabini's lived nearby as well and were taking the same portkey. Since Eddie was left on his own to get up (his mum wasn't coming to watch the cup either) he was the last to arrive and looked even more asleep than I felt. Our portkey was an old book with lots of torn pages and the front cover ripped completely off. It could easily have merely been litter in the old alley but we all knew better.

"I wish the cup was in England," I lamented to Albus. "Or even Scotland. Then I could apparate."

"Yeah, pity," Albus said, obviously not feeling the least bit sorry for me. Great brother he was.

"Perfect timing!" was the first thing I heard after staggering on the ground, barely managing to stay standing. Looking to my right I saw that the Wood's had just arrived as well but they had their own personal portkey, Oliver being the Minister of Magic and all. Bri's sister, her sister's boring husband, their two daughters, and Tommy's girlfriend Hannah had all come with them though Oliver was nowhere to be seen. On second thought, they have so many people that it really isn't all that private.

The shout had come from Hanna Stebbins, the younger of Bri's two nieces, as she and Lily both shrieked and hugged each other. Huh, two Hanna(h)'s. I had never noticed that before. I wonder if it gets confusing. They should have a Hannah One and Hanna Two. Or I guess they could just spell it out every time though that would probably get a bit annoying.

I glanced at the rest of the Wood brigade and saw Tommy, Hannah, West, and Kylie all leaving, calling out something about finding the campsite. Lia had fallen to the ground and was wiping dirt off of her jeans in annoyance. Her red hair was a mess; obviously she hadn't been excited to wake up this morning either. She looked up and smiled, her eyes locked on something to my right and I turned my head to see my brother grinning back. He was losing serious Bro points today.

"Let's all check in, yeah?" Dad suggested, obviously getting nervous that we had been standing in the same place for so long. Portkey's were arriving every minute and if you didn't get out of the way, you could be unintentionally trampled on. That definitely wouldn't be the most pleasant way to die.

Despite it being a Muggle campsite, few people seemed concerned with hiding their magic. One of the tents even had a balcony.

"Can we get a tent like that?" Lily asked, pointing to a particularly large pink tent that had towers and a garden in the front. It may have been bearable if it weren't for the mermaid fountain.

"We're supposed to look like Muggles," mum reminded her. "That tent doesn't look Muggle in any way."

"If other people can show off, why shouldn't we be able to?" Albus asked.

"That's what I said too!" Lia exclaimed and Albus grinned again, turning around to high-five her.

"Control the jealousy mate," Eddie said, tossing his arm around my shoulders. I shoved it off and pointedly looked away from him. I didn't need to see him smirking to know that he was.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told him. "I wouldn't want to stay in that tent if they offered me ten galleons."

"This is our stop," Dad said, tossing the tent he was carrying down in an empty plot.

"We're on the other side," Bri told her kids, indicating down a ways where there were lots of open spaces.

"And we're another row over," Mrs. Stebbins added, leading her family down a trail that led to another row of tents.

"Is Hannah staying with us?" Lia asked as she, Dexter, and Eddie followed Bri. "Because I am not staying in the same tent as her and Tommy."

"We're splitting boys and girls," Bri laughed. "Your dad asked for two plots."

It didn't take long for dad to set up the tent and it took only a minute longer for Rose and Hugo to find us.

"James, Albus, go get us some water, yeah?" Dad said, tossing the pail over.

"I'll go with you," Rose said brightly and we all started off, passing Dexter and Eddie on the way.

"We're going over to your tent," Eddie said when Albus asked what they were doing.

"But James isn't there," Rose pointed out, looking confused.

"There are other people in your family," Dexter shrugged. "And my family is annoying me."

"Leave it," I told Rose. "There's no point in reasoning with them."

"Well fancy seeing you here," Rose said when we finally got to the well.

"Who woulda thought?" Lia grinned back at her.

"Since you found your friends can I go now?" West asked irritably.

"Sure," Lia said, waving him off in obvious exasperation.

"Is he—"

"I have no idea," she cut Albus off. "I'm hoping it's just a phase. But I have a bone to pick with you, Potter." She pointed her finger at me and I raised an eyebrow back.

"What about?" I asked.

"Dexter said you're talking shit about Slytherin being easy this year."

"Forget it, momentary laps in judgment," I said quickly and she gaped at me.

"Momentary lapse of—" she started incredulously before suddenly changing her train of thought. "Oh, Rose, before I forget Blondie was looking for you. Three down."

"Thanks," Rose squealed.

"Who's Blondie?" Albus and I asked at the same time.

"Nobody who concerns you," she said, amusement laced in her voice. "But thinking that Slytherin is going to be easy is not merely a momentary lapse in judgment. That's serious. That's like saying the Bangers were shouldn't have been disband. Tell him Albus."

"Yeah, what she said," Albus agreed, obviously paying no attention.

"Hello, loyalty. Get some," I snapped at him. Albus looked nervously between us before muttering something about going to find Rose.

"Leave her alone," Malia snapped and Albus quickly changed his course, going back to our tent. He is such a wuss.

"You cannot seriously be this mad about one comment I made," I said incredulously.

"If you make everyone think that Slytherin is going to be easy, heck if even if just _you_ have that mindset, we're going to lose. I am not losing another cup to my brother. Do you realize how much crap I've been getting from him this summer?"

"I knew there was a part of you that was competitive," I grinned at her but she just glared back.

"Potter—"

"Didn't we already cover the fact that we've moved past surnames?" I asked resignedly.

"This isn't about surnames!" she shrieked loudly enough that a few people looked our way. With our last names, that was never good so I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side, back behind some trees. "Do you want an article in the _Prophet_?" I hissed.

"Oh shut up," she huffed, yanking her wrist back and crossing her arms. "They don't give a damn what's going on between us."

"That's because they don't know anything went on between us. Oh wait, that's right, you don't think anything went on anyways," I snapped back, matching her stance. "Why does this have you so worked up? It was just a stupid passing comment, okay? I know Slytherin's going to be tough but we'll beat them. Just relax."

"If you know they're going to be tough then why would you bet on them being easy?" she pressed. "Dex said you bet him three sickles."

"It was five actually," I corrected her.

"You never make bets you don't think you'll win," she said, ignoring my comment.

"Just drop it, okay?" I sighed, running a hand through my already messy bed-head.

"So now you want me to drop it," she mumbled, shaking her head and sending me one last glare before walking out of the woods without another word. By the time I got it together and walked back to get the pail of water she was gone.

**Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald**

"You made it," I grinned broadly when Teddy finally arrived, mere minutes before the match was set to start.

"It's England, of course I made it," he said, waving the comment off. We had our own box for the match, needing it with how big our family was. Not a single member had missed the match which was quite an accomplishment. "Where's Vic?"

"Went down to get a few butterbeers, she should be back any minute," I replied and it took less than two seconds for Teddy to stand up and mumble something about her needing a hand. I just grinned, knowing full well that he wasn't going down to help her carry butterbeers. It had in fact been a few years since I freaked out about them snogging. Not that anyone seemed to notice.

The Wood's were up in the box with the Irish and German ministers of magic. Naturally they weren't able to accommodate everyone so Bri's family had their own set of tickets somewhere else in the stadium but they had managed to scramble up enough tickets for Hannah and Eddie, who had freaked out when he thought he wasn't going to be able to see the match. His mum and Shaundra didn't care about the match and despite many pleads from Lia, Shaundra had stood firm that she had no interest in waking up early just to see a Quidditch match. To quote her:

"I already brave the cold and risk getting clobbered by a bludger to watch you play. There's no way I'm waking up at four in the morning just to keep you company when we both know that five minutes into the match you won't care who's nearby."

"Hey James," Roxie greeted me, flopping down in the seat Teddy had just vacated.

"What's up Rox?" I asked, surprised by how friendly she was being. She had gotten over Easter break but I had been the one to approach her all the time and she still had an obvious thorn in her side about it.

"Malia told me everything," she said happily, her smile way to wide.

"Everything about what," I asked cautiously.

"Everything about you guys," she said with the same self-satisfied tone. "About how you kissed her for the first time before you played Slytherin, about neither of you wanting to make it serious or official (although I kind of have a feeling it wasn't as mutual as she seemed to think it was), and then about when you broke up with her. Well, kind of broke up with her considering she was never willing to make it official. But she was a bit foggy on the details so you want to give me your half of it all?"

"Nope," I said simply and she glared. "You are too nosy for your own good," I told her. "What's done is done; why not just move on from it all, yeah?"

"Because I don't want to move on," Roxie said in exasperation. "I want you guys to be together. You're perfect for each other; you just have to work on it a bit. And in order for me to get you guys back together I need more details about the conversation you had before you stopped hooking up."

"No Roxie," I told her firmly. "You are not getting involved in this and you are certainly not going to play match-maker."

The problem with Roxie is that what people say has a tendency to go right over her head. Once she gets something in her head she doesn't let it go. It was one of the reasons we got into trouble at Hogwarts, one of the reasons her parents had been unable to dissuade her from pursuing a career in dragons when she finally broke it to them, and the reason that I had to make sure she understood that she couldn't play match-maker.

"Oh James, just relax," she waved me off impatiently. "You won't have to do anything. I'll take care of it all and Malia will be falling back into your arms before you know it."

"No Roxie," I repeated, running my hands through my hair as I tried to think of a way to convince her to let it go. "Look, remember all those fairytales Aunt Hermione used to read to us?" She nodded. "Remember how you used to get in arguments with Rose about whether or not it was fate that they ended up together? And then when you started Astronomy and Divination and you became obsessed with reading the stars and you would predict all of our futures?"

"Yeah, I remember," Roxie said, rolling her eyes. "They were _my_ obsessions after all."

"Do you still believe in fate then, that everything happens for a reason and there's someone for everyone and all that crap that you used to spend hours going on about?"

"Of course," Roxie said. "But if you're trying to prove a point you may not want to call it crap."

The commentator started talking and Roxie's attention was deviated but I had to fix this before it was too late. After the match, it would definitely be too late.

"Then if Lia and I are meant to be we'll be together in the end, okay? If it's fate then we'll end up together without you intervening."

"Oh James," Roxie shook her head. "Even fate needs a bit of help."

"Please Rox," I said, ignoring the cheers and boos that erupted as the German team was announced. "Don't do anything stupid like make fake love letters or lock us in a closet."

"Does that mean I should cancel the singing bouquet that I have you sending Malia after the match?" I blanched and she laughed. "I'm kidding. I won't pretend to be either of you or actively try to get you together. I'll just be the supportive friend who secretly wants you guys to get together."

"It's not secret if you tell him that you want them back together," Teddy pointed out as he climbed up the steps. "And you're in my seat."

"_And here comes the England team!_" the announcer called out and everyone in our box immediately shot up out of our seats, whooping and hollering along with the rest of the crowd and easily drowning out the German supporter's boos.

The mascots came and went, Teddy sat down in the seat before Roxie realized what was happening, and the match was off to a quick start of 30-50 with Germany in the lead after the first twenty minutes.

* * *

**Malia**

**People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. ~Joseph F. Newton**

The first time I talked to James was during Quidditch try-outs in my second year. He and Eddie were both on the team already. Eddie was already on as a chaser and James had been a reserve. The captain the year before had wanted to start training a few players so that Gryffindor wouldn't be doomed when all three of the seventh years left at the end of the year. I was the addition they added.

The three of us, James, Eddie, and I, all worked well together. They were best friends already and could practically read each other's minds. They had so many inside jokes and stories with each other that they could say something that made no sense to anyone else and yet the other would know exactly what they were trying to convey. 'Dog' might mean drop, 'orange' might mean give and go, or '8971' could mean a fake pass. Since they weren't legit code words, no one was ever able to catch on.

I don't know how I managed to work with them but I did. We didn't talk much and I usually tried to stay out of their way around the castle but I knew how to play and by the second or third practice they knew it too. We never became best friends or any sort of trio off the pitch. We would joke around and talk at practice, occasionally sit together when the team was supposed to watch a match in a group, but that was about it. On the pitch, we were unstoppable. Off the pitch, it was like we barely knew each other.

My dad taught me a lot about Quidditch and the dynamics of the team which was why I knew we needed to reach that point again—where we knew each other like no other and could get along without tension off the pitch. The problem was that James and I had gotten too close off the pitch the year before. Our emotions ran the show and now we needed to get passed them.

Watching the German team (who, regrettably, had better chaser's than England) I tried to imagine all that they had been through to get to this match, the final. They were bound to have some sort of history with each other, to have made mistakes together, to have gotten to close or had trouble getting along. But they were still here. They fought through it and made it to the pitch, showing up to play together and compete against the other team.

That's what we needed to do. As easy as erasing it would be, I didn't want it to be erased and there was no point in wishing that it could be. We had to move on from it and focus on the game and competition. There was one more year of James being here, one more year for him Eddie and I to make our mark together. After the year ended and we had held the cup in our hands everything would be fine. We would have accomplished what we had always dreamed of, he would leave, and I would be able to get over him. For good.

_"The Seeker's are diving!" _The commentator called out and I quickly switched my gaze away from the Chaser's to Luke and the German seeker, both of whom were plunging towards the ground with speed that always caught me off guard.

_"And they pull up again,"_ he said in disappointment. _"The snitch has been lost. Meanwhile Germany scored twice and England once, making the score 180-140, Germany."_

"Come on Luke," I said quietly to myself, attention now focused on him as he slowly moved upwards again, his eyes darting around the pitch as he did.

_"Wood is off, obviously seeing something Strauss hasn't. Wood dives, Strauss follows, and Wood pulls up, leaving Strauss to hit his own goal post. That's going to hurt. And Germany calls for a time out so that they can stop Strauss' nose bleed. It is absolutely gushing!"_

"Is it just me or does it look like it's going to rain?" Dexter asked, indicating the dark clouds that were slowly getting closer.

"I'm sure it's fine," Eddie said as we all stood up to stretch during the time-out. "It's been great all week and they haven't called for rain, have they?"

"I'd be willing to bet they would say the weather was going to be nice no matter what," Tommy said quietly so the Irish Minister couldn't hear. "If they said weather was supposed to be bad there are some people who wouldn't go to the match. Not everyone, of course, but it would make the demand lessen and that would be bad."

"He's got a point," Dexter agreed. "The bigger the demand, the more people want it. If it wasn't hard to get tickets, less people would go for them. Think about everyone who doesn't care about Quidditch except for the World Cup. If people didn't make a big deal about it they probably wouldn't think of it as being any different than all the other matches they have no interest in attending. It's simple psychology."

"Sure it is," West said, rolling his eyes.

I was really starting to worry, where the hell did my brother go? Still, none of us commented and turned back to the match. I saw Hannah look at Tommy in concern but he just shook his head and gave her a quick kiss before we all sat down. The match resumed quickly and the rain came merely seconds later, drenching everyone. I tried to shield myself at first but gave up quickly, knowing it was useless. A few people retreated out of the stadium, probably hoping to wait the storm out, but most stayed where they were. Kylie and Hannah both glanced over to the stairs where they could be protected from the rain but didn't make any move to leave for fear of missing the end of the match which went on for hours; and hours; and hours.

The game was still close though both teams were obviously getting tired and it was hard to see with the light gone. Lights were now shining on the pitch but everyone knew it would be nearly impossible to see the snitch. I dosed off a few times but nothing serious until it was finally midnight and England called for a two hour time-out, not allowed to call one until the match had been going for twelve hours.

We all trudged out of the stadium and back to our tent to sleep for an hour. When the game was ready to re-start, dad shook us all awake and we groggily went back to our seats, everyone still in their pajama's as it was still only two in the morning.

_"And Germany regains the lead by ten. The score is now 560-550 to Germany ladies and Gentleman. It looks like this match is really going to come down to the seekers, even with both teams getting tired. I hope you made your bets based on stamina because that is what this match is coming down to. Who can hang in there for the long run?"_

"Luke can't see in this," Tommy said, reclining in his chair casually with Hannah half-asleep against his chest. "He caught it so quickly in the semi's this is bound to be frustrating."

"He can still do it though," I said, trying to stay positive. "He's trained for this his whole life. Remember when dad had us all stay up for twenty four hours and then play a match? I was twelve."

"That was a little insane," Tommy laughed. "But I guess if you're going to be trained for something like this; it may as well be by someone who's played a match for three days straight."

The sun slowly started to rise at five and the lights around the stadium were turned off. People who had decided to sleep the whole night were coming back into the stadium and people who had stayed all night were leaving to sleep for a few hours while they could but I stayed up, waiting until Germany called their own two-hour time out after waiting the legal twelve hours. I had no issue sleeping through the afternoon sun and took my time going back to the stadium when the time was up, getting a Butterbeer from one of the stands and finding Rose to hang out for a bit as we watched the match from the ground. It was a strange view.

Both teams were now in the seven hundreds but the scoring had slowed down significantly as everyone's energy leaked out. Luke and Strauss made a few more close calls—sometimes seeing the snitch (or at least hallucinating a flash of gold), sometimes diving to keep their blood flowing, and sometimes just trying to fake the other out in the hopes that it would give them a leg up.

The beaters were now aiming the vast majority of bludgers at the seekers as they were turning out to be the deciding factors. Germany was up by eighty points, England only hanging in thanks to their keeper who didn't seem to be tiring out. As the daylight leaked away and the lights were once again turned on I swear I saw the beaters dodging a few of the bludgers themselves, unable to gather the strength required to hit them away.

_"And Germany has hit the eight hundreds! This is a high-scoring, drawn out match everyone. If it keeps going this way we could make history. What do you say, let this match go on for a few months so you can bear witness to the longest match in history?"_

His suggestion was met by loud boos and he chuckled.

_"In that case you lads had better hurry up. The crowd is getting antsy to see the snitch and—was that? That's it!"_ The commentator yelled and I shared confused looks with Dexter and Edie. _"Wood has caught the snitch and England wins!"_

Peering out at the pitch, I finally saw Luke who was down by Germany's goal posts, holding the little gold ball in his hand. Strauss, who hadn't noticed Luke's sudden burst of speed, was still in the middle of the pitch, his jaw slack with surprise. It took a minute for the crowd to catch up but when we did it went wild. Fireworks were set off from the ground, announcing England's return with a large "Congratulations" and an ad for the Weasley's joke shop who were sponsoring the cup and responsible for said fireworks.

_"And England performs a lap of honor. What a match! Now let's hear it for our runner-ups this year. Give a big round of applause for the German National team."_

I clapped lightly along with the rest of the stadium. Even the German fans seemed uninterested as the most noise came from the English supporters who were too happy to care who they were cheering for.

_"And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome this years Quidditch World Cup Champions…England! Captain Kevin Straight, Morgan Elliot, Shawn Cameron, Noah Bleak, Charlie Shay, and the MVP of tonight's match—LUCAS WOOD!"_

More than half the stadium was standing up and I was jumping up and down right along with them. Who woulda thought dad's legacy really could be met?

Luke looked a right mess with black and blue fingers, a large bruise on his right cheek, his hair sopping wet and sticking up all over the place but it didn't matter. At that moment all anyone cared about was that we won. His publicist could deal with the bad pictures that messed with his quiet but heart-throb worthy image.

Straight held the cup up over his head and the rest of the team put their hands on it as they posed for pictures from the press while the crowd continued to go crazy. The commentator silenced his booming voice and the players were allowed to leave the box and get cleaned up down in the locker rooms. We followed shortly and pushed through the press to get to the large locker area while dad continued to field questions, not saying anything that would give them a way to spin this into anything other than Luke's amazing moment.

He was sitting on a large table getting treated for his bruises when we finally got in and all attacked him with a hug, probably causing his injuries to hurt him even more.

"Breathing is still a necessity," he said, pushing us all away as gently as he could before permitting his mum to kiss his cheek and returning dad's back-slap.

"That was so amazing!" Kylie gushed. "There's a girl in my dorm who's, like, obsessed with you. She's going to go crazy over this. And your stardom is gong to rise like crazy. Do you realize how famous you're going to become?"

"The thought did cross my mind, yeah," Luke said grimly and I shared a look with Tommy, both knowing full well that it was Luke's least favorite part.

He loved playing, he loved his teammates, but he hated the press. He hated talking into microphones, going to events, and having to always match some sort of image. He just wanted to play.

"I'm sure Christy will take care of it," I told him, referring to his hyper and OCD agent who somehow manages all of her clients and her four kids.

"Yeah," he sighed, ruffling his hair again.

"I'm just going to clean off and I'll meet you at the festivities, yeah?"

"Sure," we all agreed, leaving Bri alone with him so that she could get on him for being MIA for the last few months. It wasn't as though he purposefully didn't see us he just got busy and…forgot.

Luke was a bit of a workaholic and had to literally be forced off of the pitch and out of his apartment when he wasn't going from one to the other. I recon he was just used to Tommy taking care of everything. He was always the partier and Luke just went with him to be the good wing-man brother.

"I'll cover for you if you want to leave," Luke offered when he found me sitting on one of the logs that surrounded the large bonfire.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Just tired. I recon you got less sleep than me."

"Probably," he agreed. "But aren't teenagers supposed to get something like nine hours of sleep a night?"

"Everyone's supposed to get at least eight," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but teenagers are supposed to get more than adults."

"Luke, you're twenty-one," I laughed. "That's barely out of the teens."

"But still out," he argued and I shrugged.

"Whatever you say."

"Luke?" Someone asked, walking up behind us. We both turned and my jaw almost dropped when I saw who was standing behind us.

"Well, I'll just…leave you two alone," I said, standing up and moving away towards where my dad was talking with a few people, a cup of Firewhiskey in his hand. He smiled when he saw me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, introducing me to the people he was talking to. I smiled and shook their hands but quickly turned my gaze back to where Luke was talking with Dominique Weasley.

He had been in love with her most of the way through Hogwarts, except for the year or so when he was involved with Vanes but we all know how _that_ ended. Dominique was, in my opinion, prettier than Victorie. While Victorie was a bit on the vane side and wore far to much make-up Dominique was a bit more serious. She died her hair a dark brown and wore simple but dark make-up.

Luke had been in the friend zone all the way through Hogwarts, never having the guts to go for it with her being in another house and having a whole slue of admirers. He was oblivious to the fact that he had his own fan crowd. But maybe, I thought as I watched them, they could work out.

His lack of ability to stay in touch didn't end with his family. When he left Hogwarts he fell out of touch with most of his friends, Dominique included. And now that he was rising to glory once again…Well, I just hoped he realized that he really did have a shot.

"And are you going to play professionally, Malia?" one of dad's friends asked. I looked away from Luke and knew that the answer I had been giving for years was finally decided for sure.

"No," I said simply and they all chuckled. Luke was willing to deal with the fame because he loved the game. I loved the game but I wasn't willing to deal with the fame, I already had my fair share of that.

* * *

**A/N: I was hoping to update every week but as always life got in the way. Hopefully this chapter made up for the wait though! Please leave a review and I'll try to get the next one up this weekend though we'll see if I can do it. I haven't thoroughly proof-read this chapter either, so please point out any mistakes you catch!**

**Next chapter: Everyone tries to get back to Hogwarts**


	7. The Storm

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**_Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I would be in Italy right now. I'm not in Italy._**

* * *

**Malia**

**Gone crazy—be back after lunch. ~Unknown**

"West hurry up," I said, impatiently tapping my foot.

"You can go downstairs," West said agitatedly. "I'll be down in a second. I just have to get my damn trunk to close."

I raised my eyebrows at his words and let go of my trunk, walking into his room.

"Are you okay?" I asked a little cautiously, helping him push his sleeves and ties all the way into the trunk before sitting down on it while he clamped it shut.

"I'm fine," West mumbled and I raised my eyebrows at him again.

"You're cussing and becoming cynical because you're fine?" I asked. West uncharacteristically glared at me and I backed off immediately.

"I'm fine," West repeated. I sighed and got off his trunk.

"Whatever," I mumbled, going over to the top of the stairs and pulling my trunk down with me. I made it down to the first landing and grinned to myself. I had never made it all the way down without tripping on the first day of Hogwarts before. I looked down the stairs and saw Dexter and Kylie both looking at me wide-eyed, which only made me smile wider.

"This," I said, starting to make my way down the second part of the stairs, "Is a monumental moment. This is the first time I have ever—argh!" I screamed, tripping over something and tumbling down the stairs.

Kylie's warning to look out for the decapitated Barbie doll came too late and I fell down the last four steps, landing unceremoniously on my face. And just to make sure that I was sufficiently injured, my trunk decided to topple on top of me, hitting me in the back of my head, slamming my chin into the hardwood floor.

"A little help?" I asked after waiting a few seconds for someone to get the trunk off me.

"Oh, right," Dexter said and he and Kylie both ran over, hoisting my trunk up and off of me. "You okay?" Dexter asked, kneeling down beside me.

I licked my lip and tasted blood but before I could reply, most likely with a sarcastic comment, both our gazes went to the landing where West stood laughing his arse off.

Briana once asked if Kylie, Dexter, and I could all be quiet at the same time for more than ten seconds. We told her no at the time but this moment proved us wrong as we all stared at West, looking as though we had just been confounded. Kylie got her voice back first.

"W-West?" she asked, sounding unusually cautious. "Are—err—you, um—"

"That was sooo funny," West laughed. Dexter and I looked from West to each other and back again.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Dexter asked. I continued to look back and forth between the two.

"Did the two of you take polyjuice potion or something?" I asked.

Dexter and I have always been pretty close but in this situation he would be more likely to be laughing while West would be more likely to be kneeling beside me, making sure I wasn't about to die.

"Not that I know of," Dexter said. West frowned.

"Why would you think that?" he asked.

When Briana walked in a few minutes later the four of us were in the same place, none of us saying a word. Briana froze when she saw us all and looked from Kylie to Dexter and I up at West and then back again. And again. And again.

"Is everything alright in here?" she asked.

That snapped us all out of it and Dexter helped me up. Kylie smiled at Bri and told her everything was "just peachy" before checking her hair in the mirror and moving her long blonde bangs to the left side so that they weren't hanging in her eyes. Her purple headband kept the rest of her pin-straight hair out of her face. West made his way down the rest of the steps and we all watched as he stepped out on the porch, waiting impatiently for us all to come.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dexter asked, still glancing over at West every few seconds as though expecting him to run off and do something crazy at any moment.

"I'll be fine," I waved him off, moving my right hand up to my bottom lip and looking at the little bit of blood on it.

Not wanting to make too big a deal out of it I sucked on my lip for a few seconds until the stinging lessened. I then reached my hand up to my head and felt the bump already starting to form.

"Concussion worthy?" Kylie asked, coming over to where Dexter and I were standing.

"Doubt it," I said easily. "But we've got a few weeks before Quidditch anyways so I should be fine. No worries."

"If anyone else said that, I would think they were insane," Kylie said, shaking her head.

"Yeah but I'm special," I grinned.

"No, it's just that we already _know_ you're insane," Dexter countered and I glared at him, kicking him as hard as I could in the shins as soon as Briana wasn't facing us.

Dexter yelped in pain but I turned and pretended to be engaged in a conversation with Kylie when Briana turned around. She looked questioningly at Dexter who pointed his finger at where I had been standing a second earlier. Seeing I wasn't there anymore he narrowed his eyes at the spot and mumbled something about stubbing his toe.

"Ready!" my dad announced, walking out swinging his car keys around his finger.

"You know dear," Briana said a bit hesitantly. "It's storming pretty badly out there. Perhaps driving isn't the best way."

"Bri, I have to set an example," my dad shook his head. "People keep magicking themselves in and out of the station and it's starting to cause problems. We need to encourage people to blend in and get ready a few minutes early so that they can drive or take a bus to Kings Cross."

And that very inspirational speech is precisely why Dexter, Kylie, West, and I all wound up in the back seat of a car that was only meant to seat three. It wouldn't be so bad if my dad didn't insist on us using the car at its normal size. The fact that we had a black car leading and trailing us is apparently less conspicuous than adding an _Undetectable_ expansion charm. Instead our trunks were tied to the roof, our animals were in the trunk, and the four of us were all trying to get comfortable while making the other three as uncomfortable as possible.

"Kylie, quit it, you're on my hand," I complained, shifting to the left and trying to pull my hand out.

"I can't move," she argued back. "West is shoving me into you."

"It's not my fault!" West exclaimed. "Dexter is taking up the whole seat!"

"Am not! You have more than half of it!"

"Watch it!"

"Quit tickling me!"

"Move over!"

"I can't!"

"Then turn sideways!"

"I have a bruise on my side!"

"That was my foot!"

"That was my elbow!"

"Yeah, I know, it hit my stomach!"

"Ah! What the hell!"

"You did it to me!"

"Did not!"

"Move!"

"You move!"

"Isn't this a lovely bonding experience?" Briana asked, turning around in the front seat and smiling brightly at us.

She was answered by four glares and a silence that lasted for less than two seconds before the arguments resumed. Briana sighed and turned back around, turning on the radio and closing her eyes. Just as we were reaching Kings Cross my favorite song came on and Kylie and I shrieked for everyone to be quiet at the same time. Dexter rolled his eyes and opened his door, making a run for it into the building. West followed his lead.

My dad left the keys in, per our request, and got out of the car to start taking our luggage off the top of the car. He waved away the agents who tried to help, probably using his 'inconspicuous' argument. I'm pretty sure being a Quidditch player screwed up his version of normality. Or maybe all of the bludgers and concussions addled his brain more than people realized.

Once the song was done Briana turned off the car and took an umbrella out of the dashboard. She stepped out and let Kylie and I get under it. The three of us huddled together as we made our way into Kings Cross, much less wet than West, Dexter, and my dad were though it was still obvious we had been outside by the Goosebumps on Kylie's bare legs, the hair at the front of Briana's head that was starting to frizz, and the dark color of my jeans that indicated they had dragged on the wet pavement.

We saw Dexter standing with a group of people and he waved us over to the area they had found that wasn't getting hit by the hard storm thanks to a stone archway.

"Dad got a Patronus telling him they needed him ASAP to deal with storm problems," Dexter said when we reached him. "He went through onto the platform but no one who's not a ministry employee is able to get through. He said to stay put but Mr. Potter, and Rose's mum both went with him. What should we do?"

"Well, I'd imagine that since he told us to stay put we should stay put," Briana said.

I rolled my eyes at Dexter's stupidity. I mean, really? What do we do when there's a storm, we're standing in a place that's covered, a train twenty feet away may or may not be leaving in a few minutes, and the minister of magic said not to go anywhere. How he got into Ravenclaw is _beyond_ me. I noticed Rose sitting against the wall and walked over to join her, sliding down next to her. She smiled at me and I grinned back.

"Interesting start of term," I said conversationally. Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I wonder what they'll do about all the first year Muggleborne's. If they can't get through the platform they may start to think the whole thing was a hoax."

"How can they think it was a hoax after they've seen Diagon Alley?" I asked. "That's as much proof as anyone should need."

"I don't know but they make themselves believe a lot of things," Rose pointed out. "I mean how many things do we cause that they write off as being forgetful or bad planning?"

"Fair point," I conceded, stifling a yawn. "Think we'll actually leave today?"

"I doubt it," Rose shook her head. "Some people have already left so it would make more sense to just leave a week or two later. Hopefully this won't lengthen the school year. I barely manage to stand it through May. I can't handle going into June."

I laughed. Typical Rose response.

**Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you. ~Satchel Paige (*cough, Malia, cough*)**

**James**

"James I know you have this late thing going but could you please hurry up?" my mum called from the bottom of the stairs. "We're going to miss the train if you don't."

"Go without me," I told her. "I'll apparate."

"James we are all well aware of the fact that you are allowed to use magic but Oliver has been very insistent on us not risking security getting to the Express. All of the ministry workers are supposed to set an example."

"So set an example," I said. "You guys go and I'll meet you there." I heard a bit of mumbling and then footsteps and the sound of a door closing. I grinned to myself and flicked my wand, watching as everything packed itself. It was a bit messy, but it all fit.

"Ah, good you're ready," my mum said, standing by the doorway.

"What're you still doing here?" I asked in surprise. "Dad just pulled out of the driveway."

"He did," she nodded. "I volunteered to make sure you arrived at the station in a Muggle fashion."

I glared at her and looked around for something else to take up time. My eyes landed on the goldfish that Lily had asked me to take care of while she was at a sleepover. Two months ago.

"I need to feed the fish," I told her. "I wouldn't want her to die on my watch or anything."

"Right," Mum agreed easily, still leaning against my door-frame. "That would be bad."

I took my time dumping each pellet in and then ever so slowly started levitating my trunk down the steps. In the kitchen I came up with the bright idea to fill up a water bottle to bring with me and then proceeded to make sure that it was right at the line that indicated how filled it should be. By the time I had finished procrastinating as much as possible it was a quarter to eleven.

"Ready," I announced brightly. My mum nodded and held out her arm. "I have my apparition license," I reminded her.

"Oh, I know," she said. "But like your dad said we have to arrive like Muggles so I'm going to apparate us to a place that will work."

I groaned in annoyance and very reluctantly took her arm. She apparated us into a street that was completely deserted and had no cover from the storm whatsoever. Within seconds I was drenched. It was only a two minute walk to the station but in the storm it may as well have been an hour.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I demanded as we stopped just inside the station doors to attempt to dry off using our sopping wet clothes. It didn't work.

"I told you we had to look like Muggles," she said, ruffling my hair fondly. "And you were so insistent on apparating that this seemed the only way we could do it."

I shoved her hand off and glared at her before walking away. My mum laughed and walked beside me easily, despite my longer legs.

"I'm sure Malia won't right you off because you're a bit wet," she said, still grinning like she was the biggest genius to ever walk the earth. I glared at her again.

"We broke up months ago," I informed her, rolling my eyes. "You know that."

"Of course I do," she shrugged. "I'm merely saying that she has seen you in far worse conditions than this."

"Why do I care what condition she sees me in?" I muttered and my mum laughed again. She was seriously pissing me off today.

"Okay, you keep telling yourself that," she said. "It may come true…eventually."

Before I had a chance to reply I caught sight of Roxanne who was standing with a large group of our family members. Lily and Albus were standing by Aunt Angelina and Uncle George and basically told us a whole load of nothing about what was going on. When I looked over at Fred, hoping for some useful information, he just shrugged not having any idea what was going on.

Looking around the station I saw a lot of people with trunks, owl cages, and Wizarding robes—all looking confused and worried. There were a lot of people in Muggle clothing mixed in as well, most holding something to their ear, talking loudly. None of the trains seemed to be running and the station was packed like I had never seen it before. Eventually Aunt Hermione came out and called for the group's attention.

"The train isn't going to be leaving today," she announced loudly. "I would suggest that everyone go back to their homes or friends homes and wait for news. As soon as we figure out what we're going to be doing we will send out word to everyone we can but in the meantime I need everyone to hold their questions and be patient. We're working as fast as we can."

"Okay," Aunt Angelina said loudly as soon as Aunt Hermione left. "A bunch of people are coming over to our house to wait this out. If you want to join us you are welcome to. If you would like to come and have your apparition license raise your hand."

Roxy, Eddie, and I all grinned at each other and put up our hands. Angelina looked at us nervously before calling out again.

"Everyone who can apparate find someone who can't and take them with you. We may have to take a few shifts…Not you three," she added, grabbing onto Roxy, Eddie, and I. "I can't force you to go with someone but there is no way I am letting you try side-a-long."

"Fred's taking Malia!" Roxie exclaimed, pointing over to where he was helping her up.

"Fred didn't break a lamp when he attempted to apparate to breakfast this morning," she replied. "Besides, he managed to apparate without splinching himself during the second apparition lesson. How long did it take you three?"

A bunch of people came over to Fred's place, half of which I didn't know. By the end it seemed like people were just grabbing any witch or wizard they could find. All of my cousins who hadn't been at the station seemed to have arrived; the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was walking around; all of Ravenclaw's returning players were chatting by the kitchen; about half of Hufflepuff's team stopped by to say hi; and even a few Slytherin players had managed to weasel their way in.

"Hey," Tommy Wood greeted, walking around from behind the couch I was sitting on and greeting me with a high five. "What's up mate?"

"Not much," I shrugged. "How's Azkaban?"

"Still pretty uneventful," he shrugged. "But I'm also with the lower security people so that could be why. Although there was this one crazy lady who tried to escape by slipping through the bars and she wound up getting stuck and instead of letting us help her get out she kept screaming bloody murder and banging her head against the metal bars. I think she gave herself brain damage."

"I have a feeling her brain was already messed up," Roxie commented, frowning slightly from her seat beside Tommy.

"Fair point," Tommy laughed. "But I don't think I've ever seen someone give themselves a concussion doing something like that."

"You should have seen Malia today," Dexter laughed, taking a seat on the couch beside me. "She gets down to the first landing and is all proud of herself for not falling and then she takes two steps down the next flight, trips over the head of a decapitated Barbie doll, tumbles down the rest of the steps, face plants on the floor, and then gets the back of her head crushed by her truck. It was epic but if she doesn't have a concussion it'll be a miracle."

"Did she cry?" Roxie asked, frowning slightly. "Dad said people usually cry when they get a concussion."

"No, but when does she ever cry?" Dexter asked.

"Fair point," Roxie conceded.

"Dexter made a fair point?" Malia asked in an awed voice. "Someone floo Witch Weekly, it's a miracle."

"You got a concussion?" I asked, ignoring her jab and Dexter's half-finished retort.

"We don't know it's a concussion," she waved it off. "Dex is overreacting."

"You should get Aunt Angelina to check it out," I told her, frowning. Starting off a Quidditch season with a concussion won't do us any favors.

"It's really not a big deal," she insisted. "It didn't hurt that much and the Quidditch season doesn't start for a month. Besides, there's not much Angelina could do for it if she's not at St. Mungos."

"She's right," Tommy agreed. "Angelina needs more than her wand to fix it and I think we can all agree that Malia's had enough concussions to know when there's something to worry about."

"I really don't think it's a concussion," Malia said again, looking directly at me. I still wasn't satisfied but Roxy changed the subject by asking Malia about what classes she had decided to take and Tommy turned to Dexter and I.

"So what are you thinking of doing after Hogwarts?" he asked us. "I know Dex has been talking about living at home for the rest of his life."

"Shut up, I'll figure out what I want to do at some point," Dexter grumbled, crossing his arms. I looked across Dexter at Malia who was leaning forward on her arms, talking animatedly with Roxy. I couldn't make out what they were saying with the loud music booming out of the surround sound set Aunt Angelina and Uncle George had around their entire house. Add in the noise of everyone else and it was impossible to make out more than a few words but considering they sounded like—

"Mice" "Flabber" "Cheat" and "Sing" I'm thinking I didn't quite hear right.

"James," Dexter asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, snapping back into their conversation.

"I asked what you were thinking about doing," Tommy said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Oh, right," I said, shaking my head to clear it. "I'm not entirely sure. I really like photography so I'd like to pursue that but I don't know if I'd want it to be a career or just a hobby, ya know? But if I don't go into photography I'd probably do more of the civil service stuff like Teddy. You know, getting kids out of bad homes and what not."

"There you two are," Briana exclaimed, walking over to our group and looking at Dexter and Malia. "Did you hear the news?"

We all shook our hands so she filled us in:

The storm stopped trains from leaving Kings Cross and although the Hogwarts Express could be protected by magic seeing a solitary train making its way during a storm was not advisable for security so we would be leaving next week. They were still getting everything arranged but everyone would receive a new letter within the next few days.

"Well that's a relief," Malia exclaimed, falling back against the pillows. "I still haven't started my Transfiguration essay…I mean, I haven't quite _finished_ it yet because I want to make sure that it's perfect. You know, so that I start off on the right foot this year and everything—wouldn't want to start the year off with procrastination!"

"Uh-huh," Briana said, crossing her arms. "And where is this essay that is so close to being perfect?"

"It's right here," Malia rolled her eyes, taking a piece of parchment out of the bag at her feet and waving it in Briana's face. "And all the rest of it is in my brain."

"I'm sure," Briana said skeptically. She looked like she was about to take it and see what was really on the parchment but she got called away by other people asking what happened before she had a chance to look at it. Dexter, however, plucked it right out of Malia's hands.

"Malia Wood," he read out. "Human Transfiguration: A person who uses human transfiguration is different than an animagus for many reasons…Wow Malia, you're right, that is one amazing essay," he said sarcastically.

"Oi, shut it," she grumbled. "I was going to do the rest of it on the train."

"How long is it supposed to be?" Tommy asked, looking mildly amused.

"Three feet," she admitted. We all laughed and she huffed in annoyance, tearing up the parchment and throwing the pieces at Roxanne who caught one in her mouth on accident.

"Aw, come on," I said to Malia. "That was such a promising start."

"I hate you all," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. I kept my smile in place but looked away quickly. I couldn't go there again and the only way I was going to manage that was to not be around her. Of course, playing for the same Quidditch team puts a bit of a damper on that particular plan of action but I didn't really have much of a choice on that matter.

"There's cake!" Dexter exclaimed, jumping up quickly.

"Get me a piece!" Malia called after him, stretching her legs out where he was sitting before. "You okay?" she asked me, nudging me with her bare foot.

"Yeah, of course," I said quickly. A little too quickly, apparently, since she raised her eyebrows. "I'm fine," I said, calmer this time.

"Okay then," she said skeptically. I could tell she didn't believe me but I knew she wouldn't push it. She never did. She always accepted things at face value, she never talked about or dealt with things that were difficult or had too much emotion. She never opened up.

"Where's my piece?" she demanded when Dexter got back.

"Where's my seat?" he countered, his face covered in icing.

"Get me a piece and I'll give you back your seat," Malia told him. Dexter grumbled but walked back to the kitchen anyways and Malia smiled triumphantly. I met her gaze and couldn't help but smile back.

"Have any of you seen our floo powder?" Uncle George asked desperately. "People are trying to get home but we can't find it and Angelina is convinced that I used it for an experiment."

"Did you?" Roxie and I chorused and then laughed. There's a reason that girl is my favorite cousin.

"No!" Uncle George exclaimed. "Merlin, why do I always feel like I'm talking to my mother around you two?"

"Hey, I take offense to that," I said indignantly.

"Malia understands me, don't you Malia," George said, nudging Malia.

"Of course I do," Malia said, smiling brightly at him and playing with the edge of her shirt, pulling it down further and then twisting it so that it rode up exposing her mid-drift. "I have complete confidence that you had nothing to do with it," she added biting her lip.

I swear to Merlin the girl is either a complete tease or completely oblivious. Most likely both. When we were going out she did it purposefully. Right now I was pretty sure it was out of nerves. She never sat still when she was nervous.

"Hey, weren't you and Fred doing something with floo powder a little while ago?" Roxie asked, frowning at Malia who froze for a split second, her shirt staying up to almost her belly-button.

"Err, we used it a few days ago," Malia admitted cautiously.

"Oi, Freddy get over here!" George called. Malia sat up quickly and tried to gesture for Freddy _not_ to come over but it didn't work.

"What's up?" Freddy asked, clapping his dad on the back.

"Do you know what happened to the floo powder? You're mum's looking for it and Roxie said you and Malia were using it." Fred looked over at Malia who shrugged helplessly. Fred reached up and messed up his small afro a bit.

"Err, we used it, yeah," he said. "Just to try and get over to her house though."

"Do you know where it went?" George asked.

"Nope, sorry," Fred shrugged. "But I would have to say that I would assume most of it went into the fire. I've got to go find, uh, mojpkd."

He mumbled the last bit and hurried off. George sighed and trudged away. Malia let out a breath of relief.

"Here's your cake," Dexter announced as George was leaving.

Malia grinned and sat up, moving into the middle of the couch and giving Dexter the seat she had previously been sitting in. Dexter had a fork too and together they devoured the plate in two minutes flat. I couldn't even count how many pieces were on the plate but I suppose to be fair Tommy and Roxie had a few bites too. Dexter offered me some but I declined and Malia made some smart-ass comment about me being a health-nut. Which I'm not, by the way, the cake just looked sickening.

"Are you sure none of you have seen the floo powder?" Aunt Angelina asked, looking completely frazzled.

It was getting later and the little sun that had given the slightest bit of light during the day was completely gone. The rain was still heavy and the crowd had lessened significantly in the last three hours but most people with younger kids were still here, unable to side-along all of them without causing problems. It can be dangerous to apparate with little kids and if anything goes wrong it's likely to be deadly. Not a chance most people take if there's the slightest possibility they won't have to.

Tommy had left an hour ago; Roxanne had a book out and was half-reading, half-asleep in her arm chair; Dexter was passed out on the couch; Louis had come over and was now laying on the rug talking to Freddy and I while Malia listened to us, not really caring what we were saying but unable to get Dexter's head off of her. She had already given up on both waking and moving him.

"I dunno mum," Freddy shrugged. "Why don't we just set up portkeys?"

"Because we would need specific ones to each house," Angelina said. "We can't expect people to walk in this weather. The only thing I can think of is that we're out but I have no idea how we would have run out so quickly."

"Well we used the last of it two days ago," Fred admitted a little guiltily.

"I re-filled it three days ago!" Aunt Angelina exclaimed.

"It was for a good cause," Fred said, holding his hand up in surrender.

"And what, pray tell, was this good cause?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well," Malia said slowly. "You see, Fred asked whether or not animals could use the floo network and I said they could probably use it if they went with people but I didn't think you could, like, put them in the fire and send them places. So we bet a few sickles and then in order to figure out who won we had to test it, you know?"

"And what—" Angelina had turned back to Fred but he was already gone. We all looked around, confused on how he could have gotten away. Even if he apparated we would have heard a crack. Angelina sighed.

"Alright," she conceded. "We'll have to set up some portkey's I guess. Maybe people can floo from one house to another."

Malia bit her lip guiltily.

"Well that could have been much worse," Fred announced, popping up from behind the couch.

"Thanks for the help," Malia said sarcastically.

"Oh, no problem," Fred said immediately, laughing when Malia continued to glare.

"So what was the outcome?" Louis asked.

"Well you can floo with animals but you can't floo them without you," Malia said. "Of course, we knew that after trying it twice but Freddy here wasn't satisfied so he insisted on fifteen trials before he finally gave in. At that point we had enough powder to go wherever we wanted to go so we wound up talking gibberish and it just brought us round and round until we ended up back here. It was pretty cool but I felt sick by the time we were done."

"Yeah, I haven't been able to floo since," Freddy agreed.

"I haven't even bothered to try," Malia said, making a face at the thought.

In my head, I knew it was stupid and I told myself it over and over again even as my hand clenched around part of the rug. We had broken up; Malia could do whatever she wanted. And besides, I knew she and Fred had never been anything more than friends. No one even bothered to tease them because they gave you nothing to tease them about. And Fred wouldn't go there after I had dated her anyways. But still, I couldn't stop the pit of jealousy from forming.

I knew it was stupid, but it was still there.

* * *

**A/N: Eh-heh...so, I'm not dead. Let's all focus on the positive and not the fact that I haven't updated in a month, yeah? I had MAJOR writers block for this story and trust me when I say that it frustrated me ten times more than it frustrated you. But seriously, I am so sorry this took so long.**

**For those of you interested, I did put out two HP Next Gen. One-shots during my absence from this story-one Rose/Scorpius that I'm pretty proud of and one Albus/OC that I literally wrote in five minutes and can't decide whether I like it or hate it. So go to my profile, skip through the insane amount of useless information, and check both of them out. Reviews are always welcome (hint, hint).**

**On yet another note, updates for this story should not take this long again (I really hope) as I've decided that this isn't going to stretch out over the whole school year. I'm thinking there's going to be somewhere between twelve and fifteen chapters. I'm aiming for twelve but as I'm really good at spending pages of writing talking about nothing, I'm saying up to fifteen.**

**Please review because next chapter has: The real train ride to Hogwarts, Malia's procrastination catching up to her, and a bit of Quidditch talk.**

**Oh, and because this authors not isn't long enough...I use Wikipedia to check HP facts all the time and one of my favorite pages has a list of every Harry Potter character ever mentioned. Well, someone went in and deleted A TON of names and now the list is really small. SO, if you're ever bored and want something to do, get out a HP book and start adding to the list. We need it back!**


	8. Potter Pandemonium

**_Summary:_**_ Malia Wood and James Potter were never considered the perfect couple. They didn't share every other interest with each other, they didn't have contrasting personalities, and they weren't destined to be the Golden Couple of the Wizarding World. In fact, most people would never even consider them being together. No one, that is, who didn't know them for more than just the front they put on for the rest of the world. No one who didn't know that Malia wasn't a soft-spoken and easy-going girl. No one who didn't know that James Potter wasn't a camera-loving and charismatically-cocky guy. But those who knew them best knew that maybe, if they were able to drop their acts and be themselves permanently, then maybe they could work out._

**_Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, OKAY?!_**

**Malia**

**The great advantage of living in a large family is that early lesson of life's essential unfairness. ~Nancy Mitford**

The absolute worst part of living in a house with two brothers and a cousin obsessed with beauty routines is sharing a bathroom. Seriously, I have _begged_ my dad and Bri to let me move into the room Tommy and Luke share but they won't let me, insisting that the boys need their own space when they decide to make an appearance. The fact that they both have their own flats and Luke never comes back anyways doesn't seem to factor into their decision.

Under normal circumstances I would have just taken over the bathroom and stayed in my current room but their bathroom is hazardous. It needs to be quarantined. Briana is under the (very mistaken) impression that they are old enough, and responsible enough, to keep it clean on their own but they don't clean it. Ever. Even the lady who comes in to clean the house every other week doesn't go in there. She just cleans the room and keeps the bathroom door shut.

I would tackle the infestation if I was allowed to switch rooms but spending hours, if not days, on cleaning it only to have them come back and reek in the benefits is not all that appealing.

But when I wake up in the middle of the night (3 a.m. to be exact) and find that Kylie is in our bathroom moisturizing because she got home and exfoliated late I started seriously considering putting the work in. When I then went to use the boys' bathroom I discovered the hard way that they didn't put the seat down (again) and decided on the spot that the next day I would clean the bathroom.

When I woke up the next day I realized that I was leaving for school in two days and decided it wasn't worth it.

**My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. ~Gandhi**

"There you are!" I exclaimed, letting go of my trunk and hugging Shaundra. "Where were you last time?"

"I was with my dad," she rolled her eyes. "Eddie ditched as soon as we arrived so I got stuck with dad while he tried to figure out what was going on."

"That sucks," I sympathized. "I needed you so bad at the Weasley's. I was seriously dying and I don't even know where Rose got off to. But I was stuck with Dexter, James, and Roxie who is the worst buffer in the history of buffers."

"Let's find a compartment," Shaundra suggested. "You can tell me about it on the way…have you done the Transfiguration essay yet?"

"Uh-hum…not exactly," I admitted. "Are you offering?"

"No, I was asking," she sighed. "I tried to forget about it the first half of summer, forgot about it the second half, and then didn't feel like doing it the last week."

"We should start a club for kids who slack off their schoolwork," I told her. "The bonus points for starting a club might counteract our crappy grades."

"Why weren't you put in Ravenclaw again…" she wondered and I laughed.

"Shut up."

Shaundra Finnegan is my one and only roommate. There's no denying that we are very, very different but the one thing that allowed us to get along and become friends is our extreme, extreme, extreme dislike for all things regarding school. Okay, maybe not _everything_, but everything involving teachers, parchment, books, and grades. I don't like school because it's boring and I would rather be playing Quidditch. Shaundra doesn't like it because she thinks it's a waste of time and doesn't like half the people in our school.

We talked and ate chocolate for the first half of the ride. Once the prefect meeting was done (or rather we decided that we had covered everything we needed to cover before we got to school) we stood up to go find Rose.

"Hey Shaundra," I said as we walked down the train and peered into various compartments.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Weren't you supposed to be in the prefect meeting?"

"Oh shibangle," she muttered, stopping short. She thought about it for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, it's not like I ever go to those meetings during the year. Besides, they only picked me because you get in too much trouble with the Quidditch team."

"That's not—eh, you're right," I conceded.

Shaundra has long, white blonde hair that reaches more than halfway down her back. It's always perfectly straight and her version of 'putting it up' is to pin the front hair back with a clip. Her eyes are a stormy blue that always make her look spacier than she is (which is really saying something). It got her into a lot of trouble when we first started Hogwarts but all of the teacher's eventually got used to it and now she can space out without them commenting because 'not paying attention' has become her standard look.

"No," Rose said by way of greeting when we finally found the compartment she was sharing with a large group of other Ravenclaws.

"But—" I started.

"No."

"You don't—" Shaundra tried but Rose shook her head petulantly.

Rose doesn't like school any more than Shaundra and I do. In fact, she often rants about how school is just a way for annoying, power-hungry morons to try and regiment kids, stripping them of their creativity and individuality. The difference between her and us is that she listens to the little voice of reason telling her that she needs to do well in school if she wants to go anywhere after Hogwarts while Shaundra and I ignore it. There's a _reason_ she's the Ravenclaw.

"Hey, which of you is Gryffindor's prefect?" Scorpius asked.

I pointed to Shaundra.

"The head girl is looking for you," he informed her. Shaundra sighed.

"I'm going to get it over with," she said, handing me the parchment and ink she had been carrying and taking out her wand.

"I'm going to find Dexter and try to get him and Freddie to write it," I replied. "Find me if you manage to come back from the dead.

"Will do," Shaundra agreed.

I held out the parchment and ink to Rose but she shook her head again so I followed Shaundra out and doubled back since we passed Dex's compartment on the way. When I got to the compartment I swore under my breath and took a few steps the other way.

Why does Merlin hate me? It was just Dexter, Freddie, and Roxie when we passed the first time. I almost decided to just walk past and take the zero on my first Transfiguration assignment but then I realized that my shady lies had somehow managed to fool both my dad and Briana and I knew I would be in Major Mimbulus Mimbultonia goo if they got a letter about it.

So instead I squeezed my eyes shut and mentally braced myself as best I could before pushing open the compartment door.

"How the hell do you guys manage to be in different houses, on opposing Quidditch teams, and still spend 99 percent of your time together?" I asked.

James, Eddie, Dexter, and Freddie all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Okay, whatever," I shrugged. "Shaundra and I have a proposition for you guys."

"Where is my sister?" Eddie asked.

"Probably getting slowly killed by the head girl for missing the prefect meeting," I shrugged.

"She always does that," Eddie laughed.

"I know, last year when—that's not the point," I said, waving it off before I started getting off topic. "The point is that we were hanging out in our compartment and we suddenly started feeling very Hufflepuff so we decided that we wanted to help Dex and Freddie here with their mission to become expert handwriting copiers so that you can become handwriting impersonators for the government."

"You said that was a stupid idea," Dexter pointed out, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Freddie agreed. "You said that it was so ridiculous a career choice that—"

"Why dwell on the past?" I cut him off. "I've had a change of heart. I want to support you in whatever you choose to do and I feel bad for having such a closed mind when you brought it up."

"But—" Freddie started.

"Oh just leave it at a change of heart, would you?" I snapped and Fred shut up. "Now, Shaundra and I each wrote down the alphabet so you can see how we write our letters and we even came up with an assignment for you."

I handed Dexter mine and Freddie Shaundra's.

"What's the assignment?" Dexter asked suspiciously.

"A three foot long essay on the differences and similarities between human transfiguration and werewolves. You have until the end of dinner, go!"

Freddie, being his common-senseless beater self, immediately started working on it. Dexter, however, gave me one of his 'are you serious' looks where he tilts his head to the side, has his mouth slightly opened, and stares at me creepily.

"Oh, don't forget to write Shaundra's name on the top," I said, leaning over Dex to talk to Freddie.

"You seriously expected us to fall for that?" Dexter asked. Fred paused mid-sentence and looked up stupidly.

"Aw, come on Dex," I begged. "It's due tomorrow! Pleeease help me?"

Dexter sighed but took my parchment, quill, and ink.

"Thank you," I grinned. "I love you, I'll do anything for you, I'll owe you for the rest of my life!"

"Aw, I bet you say that to all the guys," Freddie teased. Dexter laughed.

"You're lucky I love you so much Malia," he said, but of course he had to put me in a head lock first. I laughed and shoved him off, sinking down in my seat and propping my feet up on the opposite bench.

"I can't remember sixth year information and copy handwriting if you guys don't shut up," Dexter mumbled a little while later, already a good foot into the essay.

James and Eddie were in the midst of a heated debate about whether the Arrows trading Dennis Creevey to the Tornadoes was smart or stupid. James said the Tornadoes were being stupid and Eddie always thinks the Arrows are stupid.

Personally, I think the Tornadoes were doing the best they could after so many down seasons and the Arrows made a good choice because they have an older team and need to start bringing in good new recruits. But while they were arguing and Freddie and Dexter were writing I stared at my nails, not trusting myself to speak if I looked up. I really need to learn new avoidance tactics.

"Do our sisters work later," Eddie said. "We want to hang out on the train, not do homework."

"Actually," I cut in, standing up. "_We_ are leaving so that _they_ can finish practicing their handwriting copying whatever for their nonexistent career path of choice."

I grabbed Eddie by his shirt and shoved him out. James was protesting loudly as well but I blocked him out and took his arm, trying to ignore my tingling fingers, unusually shallow breathing, and sudden drop in my stomach. Once we were all out I slammed the compartment door shut and leaned back against it.

"Both of you are wrong," I announced and then told them the truth about Creevey's trade and the Appleby vs. Tornadoes debacle.

**Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. ~Bertrand Russell**

"Malia, James wanted me to tell you that try-outs are this Saturday," Eddie said, taking a seat beside me on the couch. It was Thursday evening and the fire was burning in the grate.

"Why didn't he tell me himself?" I asked and Eddie shrugged. I kind of knew he wasn't going to answer but I figured it was worth a shot. I know I started the whole avoidance thing but the difference between me avoiding James and James avoiding me is that James is much more gifted at avoidance than I am.

"I guess because he doesn't want to talk to you," Eddie finally said and I looked up sharply. "Sorry, was that one of those questions that you don't really want an answer to?"

"No, it's just one of those questions that I didn't expect his best friend to rat him out about," I replied before turning back to my essay. I had, somehow, managed to stay on top of my work for the first week and a half (thanks to Dexter's help with my summer assignment) and I was hoping to keep it up for at least the first two or three weeks.

"Well since he didn't actually tell me that he didn't want to talk to you, I don't think I really ratted him out."

"Fair enough," I conceded.

"Have you guys talked recently?" Eddie asked.

"I saw him all the time over the summer," I pointed out. "I don't know why he's chosen now to avoid me."

"Because Hogwarts robes are so attractive that he won't be able to stop himself from jumping you?" Edie suggested and I laughed, hoping that the heat I felt somehow managed to not make me blush.

"Sure, that's what's going on," I agreed anyways.

"Be careful around him, okay?" Eddie added, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "I don't think he's really over you, even if he says he is and I don't think you're over him yet either."

I didn't answer, not really knowing what to say. It was one of those times when you just know that protesting is pointless and arguing just seems stupid. There was no point denying it.

"Just don't agree to go with some bloke to Hogsmeade because you want everyone to believe you're over him, yeah?" Eddie added. "I really don't want this to turn into some soap opera; I hate drama."

"I hate drama too," I laughed. "But I've never really been the type to go on a date with a bloke I don't like so you can relax. Can I ask you something though?"

"If it doesn't have to do with James' dick go ahead."

"Ew," I muttered, flushing again. "How pissed do you think Dexter would be if something happened with James and I again?"

"Do you think it will?" Eddie countered.

"You answer mine and I'll answer yours," I replied, placing my half-finished essay on the table. Who was I kidding, like I could keep up with my homework for two weeks. This was more interesting anyways.

"I think that Dexter's worried about you getting hurt," Eddie finally said. "But I think that he knows you do a pretty good job of keeping people at arms length to stop that from happening."

"I don't—"

"Come on, Malia," Eddie cut me off. "You always keep things surface level. I don't mind that, I have fun talking about Quidditch and I have no desire to watch you break down into tears or know all about your childhood. But James likes real relationships and when he commits to something he commits all the way. So I think if you honestly gave James a shot, Dexter wouldn't care but I think if you and James start something again without clearing the air completely it's going to mess up Dexter and James' relationship. Dex will always pick you, no matter what you do."

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking it over before I realized it was stupid to even take his words in. It was just a hypothetical. "Well it's not like it'll actually happen. I was just wondering because I was never able to read him. What time did you say try-outs were?"

"Nine," Eddie said. "Do you want me to leave you so that you can finish your essay?"

"Well…" I said slowly. "You could or we could have a very enthralling and important conversation that outweighs the importance of schoolwork…"

"Like what?" Eddie asked, sounding completely unconcerned. It must have been because of his theory that I didn't talk about anything below surface level because when Shaundra said she wanted to talk to him he usually got _really_ uneasy. Then again, Shaundra's the type to announce to the whole common room that she has her period. I can only imagine what she told Eddie when she asked to talk to him.

"Like who could be our new beater and seeker?" I suggested. "Have you seen the names?"

It turned out to be a very important discussion indeed. I don't have five sickles bet on my Herbology essay.

**James**

**A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other…Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever. ~The Dave Matthews Band**

There were only eight applicants at the try-outs not that it was really all that surprising. After our amazing show in the last match I was surprised anyone had bothered to come out at all. Lily had already warned me that she was trying out and Albus had volunteered to make a fool out of himself so that no one accused me of playing favorites if I decided to pick her. So really there were only seven applicants.

"Okay, did I miss the part where Albus went psycho over the summer?" Lia asked quietly so that no one could overhear. "Because he just told me he was trying out for beater. As in, the position where you have to fly and swing a bat at the same time."

"He's doing me a favor," I shrugged and Lia raised her eyebrows at me.

"Okay, whatever you say," she said in a way that made it obvious she didn't believe me.

"Okay, everyone circle up," I called out and the applicants came towards us. The rest of the team had come as well so that we could all agree on who we added. Jana had to make sure she could play with the beater and everyone needed to like the seeker. I had considered holding try-outs for a new Keeper as well but Albus convinced me it was mean. So I said if he tried out, I would keep Louis on the team.

"Beaters go over with Jana, Seekers stay here."

Albus shot me an annoyed look as he followed two others to the opposite side of the pitch and I was left to deal with the five seekers.

"I got this," Lia laughed when she saw me glance towards the beaters. "I'll eliminate the ones who can't fly and you can go watch Albus make a fool of himself."

"Thanks," I said and dashed towards the other side of the pitch. She knew what she was doing so I wasn't concerned when I glanced over to see all five of the seekers on their brooms. One fell off before he was three feet in the air.

Jana smiled at me when I walked over. She and Eddie were putting them through their paces since Louis still refused to go anywhere near beaters.

"Okay, hit these when I toss them at you," Jana said, indicating her weight balls. They were as large as bludgers but would be a bit easier to hit. Albus shot me another loathing look and I grinned. He watched the ball come towards him and hit it as hard as he could, dropping the bat right after and grabbing his arm. I didn't even bother trying to stop my laughter.

"I'm done," Albus said, now hopping on one foot since the bat landed on his foot.

"No way mate," Eddie said, a huge grin on his face. "All you had to do was hit the ball to move onto the next round."

"Yeah Albus," I agreed. "No pain, no game."

"I pick no game," he muttered but picked up the bat anyways.

"Okay, now that you're an option for a beater fly around the pitch and show us that you can keep your balance," Eddie instructed. Albus did fine with that part but the Fourth Year girl was let go.

"Alright, bludger time," Jana said, opening the crate of balls.

The snitch, I realized, was gone. Looking over at Lia again I saw that two had been let go but Lily, another girl around her age, and a boy probably a year or two younger were all still there. Lia caught my eye and waved me off, indicating that I wasn't needed.

I shrugged and turned back to Albus again who was now in the air with a bat and a bludger about two feet away. He tried to dodge the first bludger and it wound up hitting his leg. The second time it neared him he missed and wound up spinning in circles. The third time he threw his bat at it, made contact, and then got nailed in the eye when the bat ricocheted off the bludger back towards him.

Once I had stopped laughing I got Fred to take Albus to the hospital wing so that I could figure out the Seeker and get the team together. But across the pitch I noticed that no one was in the air. Instead there was a group of three people, sitting in a circle, playing a game of exploding snap.

"Where are the rest of them?" I asked and Lia looked up, suddenly nervous.

"Oh, well, see, they weren't very good," she said and I raised my eyebrows. "I mean, I gave them a fair shot but Lily was so clearly the best one it just didn't seem right to force them to stay and agonize over how they had done when there was no way you would have put them on the team."

"And you know who I would pick how?" I asked, masking my amusement with annoyance. She shared a look with Lily before standing up and throwing her arms around my neck, ignoring the way I stiffened.

"Because I know you," she said brightly. "And you wouldn't have liked any of the others. They would have messed with our great dynamics."

"Hey, give us a minute," I told Lily and Louis who both nodded and walked towards the rest of the team.

"Are you really mad?" Lia asked, biting her lip. "I know your captain so I get it if you wanted to make the final decision."

"I'm not mad," I told her. "I trust you." She looked down at that and I was torn between not wanting to have to do all of this in front of the whole team and not wanting to miss the only chance I may have.

"You can't keep avoiding it," I told her. "We need to talk. Or at least I do even if you don't want to say anything."

"Meet me hear at midnight?" she suggested and I nodded.

I put the invisibility cloak under my pillow that night and got up ten til once all of my roommates were asleep. The common room was empty and I didn't pass a single person in the corridors. I checked the map before I left and knew Lia was already at the pitch. Even though it probably shouldn't have, seeing her there already threw me a bit. Last year, or even the year before, she would have come into my dorm and refused to go unless she was allowed to use the cloak or map to make sure she didn't get caught. This year it seemed she would be picking detention over me.

"Hey," I said, pulling off the cloak. She nodded in recognition, used to me appearing and disappearing randomly.

"This is going to be awkward no matter what, isn't it?" she asked resignedly, leaning back on her arms.

"Probably," I admitted. "Do you want to start or should I?"

"I'll start," she said and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. I figured she would let me talk, say that it was all no big deal, and leave as quickly as she could. I hadn't even thought about what she would say, assuming she would avoid it like always.

"Okay," she sighed. "You have this idea in your head of what a relationship should be like and it…it's just not me. I'm sorry but I don't want to cry over my mum dying when I was a baby. Does it suck I never knew her? Sure. But how can I miss something when I don't remember it? I have a great family and I rather like my life."

"I don't want you to cry over it," I sighed. "I just wanted you to tell me."

"But why?" she asked in exasperation. "Why does it matter? It's not like I saw it happen! Well, actually, I probably did come to think of it but I doubt I could really comprehend it. I mean, I was probably still trying to get used to the sunlight really."

"But it's not just that Lia, you don't talk about _anything._ I want you to say stuff without me having to push to get it out of you. I guess…I want you to trust me."

I knew she was biting back all of the easy retorts. The one's about Quidditch that proved she did, the one's about the trust exercise our team had done three years ago that proved she shouldn't, and the ones about all the times we had saved each other and thrown each other off the broom when we got caught pulling pranks. She was an open-book, every thought she had playing over her face as she refused to say them allowed.

"I do," she finally said. "I'm just not the girl you want, James. My dad always said being compatible on the field and being compatible in life were two different things. Did you know when he used to help train Puddlemere right after he retired that their two beaters hated each other? Refused to even be in the same room together but on the pitch they could read each other's minds. I'm not going to pretend I'm over you but maybe we were trying to force something that wasn't supposed to happen."

"Do you really believe that?" I asked, playing with the grass. She didn't answer so I sighed, knowing she wasn't going to add any more right now.

"Okay," I relented. "We both want to win the cup right? So that's what we do. No more avoiding, no more awkward conversations, it's all out on the table. I'm not exactly ready for another relationship either. This plays out however it does let's just not let it affect us, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. "But you have to promise me something first."

"Shoot."

"You can't go with anyone to Hogsmeade."

"What?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"I already promised Eddie I wouldn't go with anyone so now I want you to promise me. We get through our match with Slytherin and then you can do whatever you want. Make out with Jana, have a clusterfuck with Hufflepuff, take Cecily Smith to meet your parents, whatever. Just wait until after the match okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, not planning on doing any of the things she mentioned until…well really just never.

We walked back to the castle using the map to make sure we didn't run into anybody and the common room was still empty.

"By the way," I said, getting her attention just before she went up to her dormitory. "I'd pick you over Jana, Cecily, and the Hufflepuff team any day."

**Malia**

**Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common sense. ~Helen Rowland**

"I don't understand," Shaundra said for the millionth time. "How does saying he would pick you over other girls and…well…the other thing make you mad? It's sweet!"

"It is not sweet," I snapped, deciding to let her prudeness slide for the moment. "I told him I wasn't over him and then he had to go and say that. How the hell is that sweet? He's messing with my head and…and…UGH! Help me!"

"I'm really not good at this stuff," Shaundra said, nervously twirling her hair. "Maybe we should get Roxie or something…"

"No way, Roxie will go even more googly-eyed than you," I said, taking the pillow off of my face so that I could look at her. "I think I'm just going to live in here from now on. The house-elves can bring me food, you can get my work from all of my classes, and then you and Roxie can create a security team for me when I have to go to the Quidditch pitch."

"Yeah, like I said, I'm really bad at this," Shaundra repeated. "Do you want me to get Rose? I'm petty sure I can pry her away from Malfoy if I tell her you're having a mental breakdown. Well, assuming her tongues not shoved down his throat because I don't much fancy breaking _that_ apart."

"Some best friend you are," I muttered and Shaundra cringed, making me feel guilty.

"Sorry," I relented. "I didn't mean that."

"I know," Shaundra agreed. "You never do. So do you want to rant some more, find someone who's actually decent at giving advice, or change the subject."

"Subject change," I decided without a second-thought. "What's new with you?"

"Albus asked me to Hogsmeade," she stated, still twirling her hair. I blinked.

"Albus asked—when?!"

"Two days ago," she stated with a shrug.

"And I didn't know about this because…"

"Well, you were a bit preoccupied," she admitted and it was my turn to grimace.

"I'm sorry; I've been pretty self-absorbed, huh?"

"Yeah," Shaundra shrugged. "But don't worry about it. I knew you would break out eventually."

"So what did you say?" I pressed.

"I said yes," she shrugged. "He seemed nervous; I didn't want him to be upset."

"But do you like him?" I asked and she shrugged yet again. Shaundra was the type of person who was nonchalant about…well, everything. I really shouldn't have been surprised that she decided to take a blasé attitude with this too.

"Well enough," she said. "We may not be soul-mates but he's a nice bloke. Attractive, relatively smart if a bit dimwitted. Plus, I still haven't had my first kiss and I would really like to get it over with. I think if all goes well, I can get it over with him."

"Fair enough," I relented, completely used to her simplistic view of things. Just then Roxie burst through our door, her eyes brimming with tears and there we had it:

One relationship starting, one relationship ending, one relationship completely messed up, and one relationship going strong. I think Rose had it the best of all of us, even if her dad hated her boyfriend and it had caused a rift between her and Albus.

Knowing Shaundra and Albus I would reckon that the rift will be rectified within a day or two after the Hogsmeade trip.

"I really thought he was the one!"

Merlin, I really wished I was Rose right about now.

* * *

**A/N: Well, it was faster than last time so that's saying...something at least. Please review! And if you're interested I started an Albus/OC story called Hazel Eyes so check that out if you like this one or just have some time to kill. I'll try to get the next installment of this story out by next weekend but we'll see.**

**Next Chapter: Quidditch training starts, Hogsmeade weekend, and Malia's in a bit of hot water thanks to these annoying things called grades.**

**Review!**


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